Blood and Water
by xxNoirLovexx
Summary: Rae Ikeda adores her older brother Kabuto and would do anything for him. But her world comes crashing down when he suddenly leaves without reason. And on top of that, she's struggling to deal with her feelings for three of her closest friends - Kiba, Neji and Gaara. Rated M for later chapters OC/Kiba/Neji/Gaara
1. Not Like The Others

Chapter one; Not Like The Others.

"Congratulations. You all passed. You're all Genins!" Iruka-sensei said excitedly. Although I was pleased, just like the rest of the class, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Naruto. I glanced passed Hinata to look at the exuberant blonde haired boy. He was staring out the window, hiding his emotions from everyone. I sighed and looked around at the joyous faces of my class mates. There was only two who didn't show their obvious happiness. Sasuke Uchiha and Shino Aburame. But then, they'd never been ones to show emotion.

"Rae, we passed!" Hinata said excitedly in her meek voice. I smiled at her,

"Wonderful isn't it." I agreed, my smile wasn't false but I still couldn't help but feel sorry for Naruto. He was the only one who didn't pass after all. Even though he'd tried his hardest. Even I had tried to help him.

"Rae." Iruka-sensei called, "Can I see you for a moment?" I nodded and stood. When we were both in the hallway, Iruka-sensei knelt down to look me in the eyes.

"We both know your talents and passion lie elsewhere, Rae. You barely passed the genjutsu exam, and your fighting abilities, although unique are rather average. But because you've developed a technique to sense life signs, and have somehow worked out how to heal wounds and revive dead animals, I'm going to suggest you train under a medical ninja instead." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Sensei…How did you know about my healing?" I asked him. He smiled,

"Kakashi-sensei saw you and informed me. And Hokage-sama agrees, you'd develop more in training to be a medical ninja, you were born to be one."

"Kabuto-oniichan!" I called as I ran through the door. The house was quiet and dark. _Hmm, he must be outside._ I thought as I took my shoes off and left my bag at the door. I checked my back pocket where my forehead protector was hidden. I focused on keeping a straight face as I padded quietly through the house to the garden where my older brother Kabuto was picking herbs for healing. Kabuto wasn't really my older brother, in fact we weren't related at all. But ever since he found me wandering around the forest surrounding Konoha when I was very small, we'd been inseparable. Neither of us had any parents, and so we took care of each other. I came to love him as a brother.

"Kabuto-oniichan." I said as I walked up behind him. He turned on his heel, a smile already planted on his face.

"Rae-chan." He greeted me, "How did your exams go?" I looked at my feet, making sure my face didn't give away anything. He bought it,

"Rae…I'm sor-"

"I passed!" I said revealing my new forehead protector. Kabuto stared at me for a moment in shock, then a smile spread across his lips. He pulled me into a tight hug,

"Rae, I'm so proud." He whispered. I blushed, his words meant more to me than anything else. He pushed me back, taking the forehead protector from my hands and placed it where he thought it would look best on my head and tied it in a double knot.

"It suits you." He said smiling and studying his handiwork. I beamed and then remembered what Iruka-sensei had said.

"Oniichan…" I said softly looking at my feet again.

"Hmm? What's wrong Rae-chan?"

"Iruka-sensei said that I should train under a medical ninja, instead of in a team of three, because my abilities are better suited for it. Hokage-sama agrees." I said, I could feel tears beginning to form. I just wanted to be like the rest of my classmates. I knew that I wasn't the best at genjutsu and my ninjutsu wasn't suited to battle at all and my taijutsu wasn't too good, but I could fight. And since I could heal myself, I'd very rarely be beaten in combat.

"They said that to me too. But it didn't stop me from achieving my goals." Kabuto said lifting my chin and gently wiping away a tear.

"Besides, I'll continue with your medical training, perhaps you can get Hinata to teach you some taijutsu, since you both use chakra in close combat." Kabuto suggested.

"I already asked Hinata, she said that her combat skills were as good as mine." I said glumly. Kabuto laughed,

"Perhaps you could get her cousin, Neji, to teach you." I sighed,

"Neji is always so distant. I don't think he'd even talk to me." Kabuto stood and brushed off his clothes.

"Well," he said putting his arm around my shoulders and walking me inside, "You'll never know if you don't try."

Feeling confident with Kabuto's encouraging words, I made my way to the Hyuga estate.

"Can I help you?" asked a man with light lavender eyes.

"Uh, I'm looking for Neji-san." I said shyly. This man in front of me shone power. I could only guess he was the head of the Hyuga clan. Suffice to say, I was very intimidated.

"Neji-kun isn't here. Check the training grounds in the forest, it's where he usually is." He said walking away.

"Thank you." I said softly, doubting he would've heard me. I raced towards the training grounds, my thoughts buzzing. _What if he says no to helping me? Even worse, what if he says yes? Will I be able to keep up with him? I have to. For Kabuto-oniichan._

I managed to find Neji pretty easily. He was sitting against a tree looking towards the sky.

"Rae…what are you doing here?" he asked without looking away from the sky. I gulped,

"Um… Well, I was wondering, that is if you wanted to…" I said babbling. Neji looked at me, stern faced,

"Spit it out." He said. I closed my eyes, remembering Kabuto's words.

"Could you help me with my training." I said quickly. I heard Neji stand and walk over to me.

"Fight me." He said. I opened my eyes in shock, and took a step back.

"What?" I asked.

"Fight me. Show me what you can do, then I'll decide whether or not to help you." He said. And so we sparred not surprisingly I lost.

"You're better than I expected." Neji said, panting, as he sat against a tree.

"So are you." I said collapsing against the tree next to his, "Even if you held back." Neji turned to me,

"You could tell?" he asked, sounding surprised. I nodded,

"One of my many talents." Even if he had been holding back, where he'd hit my ribs hurt a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if it was broken. I sighed, then winced as the action caused my rib to hurt.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked. I smiled at him,

"It's nothing I can't fix." Sitting cross legged now, I concentrated my chakra into my hand until a green glow engulfed it. I ran my hand down my side until I found the cracked rib. Placing my hand on just above it, carefully cut a small hole in my dress, and then moulded my chakra to my index and middle finger. I let the flow of healing chakra flow through my bones, sealing them back together. It'd still hurt for a few days, but at least the bone was mended.

When I opened my eyes, Neji was staring at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You didn't tell me you could do that." He said. I smiled,

"You never asked." I replied, "So, will you help me?" Neji stood up, brushed himself off and began walking back to town,

"Meet me here tomorrow. We'll start your training." He said.

For months, both Kabuto and Neji trained me relentlessly. During the first few weeks, my entire body ached. My chakra system sent pain throughout my body from the tiring medical training with Kabuto, and my muscles felt like lead from the intense daily training sessions with Neji. Neji had come up with a specific taijutsu just for me. Because of my medical knowledge, I knew exactly where every pressure point was in the human body, so Neji first started to get me to strengthen my fingers until the point where just one blow would be as powerful as a fist. He then made me memorize the main chakra points. So not only could I cause serious damage to the enemy's body with pressure points, I could also damage their chakra system. Even when Neji was away on missions, I'd keep training, sometimes even with Kabuto. For the first time in my life I felt that I was strong, that I could help on missions instead of just being a nuisance. It wasn't long before Kabuto thought it would be good to put my training to the test.

"Rae, you're aware that it's almost time for the Chūnin Exams, yes?" he said one night over dinner. I nodded,

"Well, I've spoken to Sensei, and he agrees. We want you on our team." he said, smiling. I dropped my chopsticks.

"What?! I didn't even think it was possible to have a four man team." I said, dumbfounded. Kabuto just smiled,

"It's all been arranged. The Third has even agreed to it, seeing as you're a special circumstance. You have no team, but even so, you've fought for your chance to become a shinobi. He's asked each of the other Kage's, and none of them have a problem with it." My eyes welled with tears as I leapt over the table into Kabuto's arms.

"Oniichan! You're amazing!" I said.

The day of the Chūnin Exams came quickly. Kabuto had let me sleep in, and so the house was empty when I'd finally woke up. After quickly showering, changing and eating breakfast, I headed out to the Exams. On the way I ran into Naruto, Sakura and some kids. Naruto was about to get his ass handed to him by some weird looking guy with purple makeup and something strapped to his body, when a rock came out of nowhere and hit the guy's hand. I looked towards the direction the rock came from. There was Sasuke lounging in a nearby tree. Sakura squealed with excitement.

"Sasuke! You're so cool!" She screeched. _Ugh. Sasuke._

"That's enough!" commanded a low, strong voice. I searched for the voice's owner. Beside Sasuke, a young red headed boy had appeared, although I hadn't even felt his presence. He carried a gourd on his back, and kept his arms folded in a protective, and somewhat conceited manner as he hung upside-down. His eyes flew to mine, although I felt slightly unnerved, I couldn't help but see the overwhelming sadness and loneliness behind his turquoise eyes.

"Please, forgive them. They're idiots." He said, indicating the older boy who was beating up Naruto and the blonde girl next to him. Suddenly he disappeared from the tree branch, and reappeared on the ground in front of us. They turned to leave when Sasuke called out,

"You. What's your name?" The blonde girl turned back and asked if he was talking to her.

"No." he replied harshly. _Typical Sasuke._ I thought bitterly.

"Gaara of the Desert." The red headed kid replied, then began walking again. _Gaara. _I thought, _Why are you so sad?_ I hated seeing people upset, even Sasuke and Sakura. _Although I've never seen Sasuke give any other expression than sullen._

I walked with Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to the Exams, psyching myself up. Kabuto had taken the exam several times before, and had failed. These exams were tough and you had to accept that the chance of death is very high.

As we walked up the stairs, we saw a large number of examinee's standing outside the door. My eyes immediately locked onto Neji. I smiled and headed over to him.

"Neji." I greeted him. He looked shocked to see me.

"Rae?" I smiled up at him.

"Rae?" Tenten asked as she turned around, "What are you doing here?" My smile faded. There was only one person I despised more the Sasuke, and that was Tenten. But then, we'd never seen eye to eye.

"What does it look like?" I replied, sarcastically sweet.

"Didn't anyone tell you that you have to be a part of a three-man cell?" she replied, mimicking my tone. I narrowed my eyes,

"I am." She frowned,

"Oh? And who would be that desperate to ask you to join them?" she spat. I smirked,

"You'll find out." Tenten laughed her annoying high pitched laugh,

"You won't even make it through the first exam." I scoffed,

"Looks like you won't either, since you haven't noticed the genjutsu." Tenten frowned and looked around. I indicated to the sign, just as Sasuke was explaining. I'd noticed the second I walked up the stairs. I'd felt Izumo and Kotetsu's chakra's all over the place. Since working with Kabuto, I'd treated wounds many times, and was well acquainted with half of the Konoha shinobi.

Tenten's face went white, and then bright red.

"Later." I said, turning to leave. Before I even took one step, Neji grabbed my arm.

"Be careful." He whispered. His eyes were locked on Sasuke and I knew he wanted to fight him. Neji was possibly the strongest Genin in Konoha, Sasuke wouldn't stand a chance against his Jyuuken. I nodded to Neji, so he'd release my arm, and continued down the hallway. Kabuto greeted me as I stepped through the door.

"So I see the genjutsu Izumo and Kotetsu used had no effect on you, huh?" he said resting an arm on my shoulder.

"Of course not. It was a pathetic attempt, although it fooled a few." I replied as I scanned the room. All of the people in here were older than me, and looked tough. _This will definitely not be easy._ Kabuto squeezed my shoulder reassuringly just as the rest of my age group entered. I saw Kiba and blushed immediately. I heard Kabuto chuckle beside me and I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Rae, I didn't know you were going to be here." Shikamaru said in greeting. I smiled at them,

"Surprise." I said. I felt a cold and wet thing brush my toe. I crouched to pat the white pup with brown ears.

"Akamaru." I said scratching his head.

"He sure does seem to like you." Said a voice behind me. My heart pounded against my chest and I closed my eyes to regain composure. Standing, I turned to face him. Kiba was standing right behind me, hands in his pockets and a big grin painted on his face. It had been a long time since I'd seen him.

"What can I say, my scent is divine." I said placing my hand on my hip and flipping my hair jokingly. Kiba moved in quickly and sniffed at my neck, sending chills down my side. His low growl was almost animalistic.

"I can tell." He whispered, his lips and tongue brushing against my skin. It was no secret that Kiba and I had liked each other before we graduated, but even so, he'd never done anything like this before. Maybe it was because I had been spending so much time with Neji.

"What do you think, Kiba?" someone said behind us. I whirled around quickly and tried desperately to slow my heart beat. Kiba replied to the question easily. I hadn't even known what they were talking about, but that was just Kiba. He was able to focus on many things at once. I glanced at Kabuto, who was smirking at me. I glared at him as he headed over to the group and began talking. I frowned as he brought out a deck of cards I'd never seen before. It would be something I'd ask him later. I felt something disturbing as he spoke about the new Sound Country. Then they appeared.

"Sound ninja." I whispered. Kiba looked down at me, a confused look on his face. The leader, began to threaten Kabuto. He threw a punch which Kabuto dodged easily. Although he'd missed, the Sound ninja seemed to be pleased.

"Ugh!" Kabuto moaned as he doubled over.

"Kabuto!" I screamed and lunged at the Sound ninja. Kiba grabbed me before I got too close and held me as I struggled to get to my brother.

"Rae…I'm fine." Kabuto said rocking back on his heels, glasses cracked. I gasped, _How?! His punch missed…_

"You jerk!" I hissed at the Sound ninja. He chuckled and stared at me with his uncovered eye. Kiba growled quietly and tightened his grip around me in a protective hold.

"Rae!" Kabuto commanded. I glared at the Sound ninja but relaxed. Kiba loosened his grip but didn't let go. Naruto began to say something loudly as I scanned the room. I locked onto a familiar red head. _Gaara…_

The first exam was easier than I thought. The questions, although easy for me, were designed to be incredibly difficult, and therefore forced the examinee to cheat, without being caught. But, if you were caught too many times, you'd fail, and so would your team. I knew that Kabuto, and the others would be fine. It was my friends I was worried about. Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji would be fine, they were all incredibly smart. Kiba had Akamaru and Shino had his bugs. Ino had her technique, and Hinata was smart enough to work most of the questions out. But it was Naruto, Chouji and Lee I was worried about. I sighed, cracked my neck, and began to observe the room. Several people had already been kicked out so it was easy to find Kabuto. He looked completely relaxed, even though I was sure that the incident with the Sound ninja and shaken him. Behind me I heard Akamaru quietly barking. _So Kiba's behind me somewhere._ I closed my eyes, centred myself and cast out my senses. I didn't need hand signals or chakra for this, it was something I'd developed on my own. All it was was amplifying your sense to assess your surroundings, and since I didn't need sight, I kept my eyes shut. Kiba was a row behind me, and Neji was to my right, Sakura to my left and Naruto and Hinata a row from the front. I felt one of the examiners staring at me so I opened my eyes and yawned, making it look like I was tired. He looked away. Again I scanned the room. I found Kotetsu sitting near Naruto, I had always wondered why he wore a bandage strip over his nose. Was it because he had a scar there? _But Iruka-sensei has a scar across the bridge of his nose and doesn't cover it up._ I sighed, man was I bored. Movement to my right caught my attention. The Sand ninja from earlier stood and was escorted out by, what looked to be an examiner, although it had no life force. _Huh, smart one. Must be a decoy._ I wasn't sure if the examiners had noticed it yet or not. I smiled, he was smarter than I'd first thought. The Exams were definitely going to be interesting. So many strong adversaries.

More and more people were failed before Ibiki-sensei, the head examiner for this section, announced the last question.

"Before I give you the last question, choose whether or not you want to take it. If you don't raise your hand and you and your team will fail, but you'll be able to try again later on. If you choose to stay and fail, you will remain a Genin forever." He said, "Now is the time to decide." I knew that I and Kabuto and the others would be fine. Although I'd never met the other two Genin that were on Kabuto's team I figured they'd be fine. Again I closed my eyes, but didn't cast out my senses. Instead, I waited for Ibiki-sensei to tell us the question.

"Is that it?" he said after a few minutes. I figured that everyone who wanted to leave had left.

"Well then, to those who are still here. You all pass." My eyes snapped open. _What?!_

"What?!" Ino said mimicking my thoughts. Ibiki-sensei explained the exam. He said that the first part was designed to make you obtain the information needed without being caught, the questions were almost impossible to work out for most Genin, and so there were two examiners amongst us. The second part was to see whether or not we were willing to take a chance. There was always a chance of danger on a mission, and we don't have a choice on whether or not to take the dangerous missions assigned to us. We just have to react appropriately to each problem that arises.

"Oniichan…" I said that night over dinner. Kabuto looked up, mouth full of noodles.

"Hmm?" he swallowed.

"Those cards you used today…I've never seen them before." I said, twirling my chopsticks in my food. Kabuto smiled,

"I only use them for the Exams." He said. I looked at my food, the cards weren't what bothered me. It was the Sound ninja. If we were to come across them during the next exam, we'd be killed.

"Rae-chan, don't worry about tomorrow. I'll take care of you." Kabuto said softly.

"I know you will. But…"

"The Sound ninja are bothering you aren't they." He said. I nodded. Kabuto moved beside me and lifted my chin.

"Everyone has a weakness. And if we come against them tomorrow, we'll find it." He said and smiled. I smiled back but I couldn't shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen.

"This place is creepy." Ino whispered beside me. I nodded, I was glad I was with Kabuto. The Forest of Death was insanely terrifying. Giant man-eating creatures, poisonous plants, plus the other Genin, it was a dangerous place. Kiba wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"You'll be fine. You're in a team who've done this before." He whispered. I nodded and rested my head against his chest, breathing in his scent. He smelt like grass, dirt and dog, it was a comforting mix of smells. A small commotion at the front of the group broke my peacefulness.

"Looks like Naruto is causing a fuss again." Kiba said, his chest rumbling as he spoke. Anko-sensei had a kunai to his cheek while another Genin stood behind her, his tongue holding another kunai. There was something weird about him, something dangerous. My instincts told me to stay as far away from him as possible, and judging by Kiba and Akamaru's reactions, they thought the same.

"Who is that guy?" Kiba asked no one. Beside us, Hinata fidgeted. Glancing at her, I could tell that she was worried about Naruto.

"Before we start the Second Exam, I'm going to pass out these to everyone." Anko said and held up a handful of consent forms. She passed them to Naruto, who took one and handed them to one of the guys in my team. I should have also been standing with them, but, from what Kabuto had said before, there was a chance I'd never see Kiba again.

Anko continued to explain the area's geographical features as the consent forms were being passed around. When they got to Kiba, he took three and handed them behind us before handing one each to Hinata and me.

"Rae, you know there's a chance that they won't get through this." Kabuto said as we filled out our consent forms. I looked up from the paper and over to Kiba, who was standing with Shino.

"Yeah." I said, "But they're stronger than they look. Hinata has her Byakuugan and Jyuuken, Shino has his bugs and is one of the strongest Genin in my age group, and Kiba and Akamaru have an amazing sense of smell, and Akamaru can sense how strong someone's chakra is. I think they'll be fine." Even though my words were confident, I was still worried about them.

"Rae." Kabuto said. I turned to him as he smiled and took my form,

"Go. We've got a few minutes before we have to hand in these forms anyway." I smiled back at him, he really was a great brother. I stood, brushed off the grass on my knees and headed over to Kiba and Shino.

"Kiba, Shino, Akamaru." I said greeting them. Shino nodded in greeting as Kiba grinned at me. I reached up to give Akamaru, who was resting on top of Kiba's head, a scratch. Kiba took advantage of this to pull me into a tight hug. His arms wrapped around my waist as he sniffed at my neck again.

"Be careful, Rae." He whispered against my ear, "If anything happens to you, I won't ever forgive him." I knew he was talking about Kabuto, but his protectiveness gave me butterflies. I pulled back,

"Be careful yourself." I said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I walked away before he noticed my extremely red face. _I'll never live it down if he saw that_. I was about to go back to Kabuto when I saw Neji standing against a tree, eyes closed, ignoring Lee and Tenten. Willing my face to return to normal and my heartbeat to steady, I walked passed them.

"Rae." Neji said as I passed, his eyes were still closed. I stopped,

"Hmm?" Both Lee and Tenten became quiet.

"Don't hold back." He said, which to me seemed like code for 'You'd better come out alive'. I nodded and continued back to Kabuto and the others just as one of the examiners said it was time to hand in our forms.

"If you have received a scroll, follow the person in charge to your designated gates. We will begin in thirty minutes!"

"Great. While they're off fighting some team for their scroll, I'm stuck here." I grumbled to no one as I rested amongst some bushes, hiding. There was a commotion from the other side of my hiding spot, so I turned quietly to look. It was some Rain ninja in a fight with another unknown team. The three from the Rain all carried parasols and oxygen tanks.

"What scroll do you have?" the head Rain ninja asked.

"Heaven." The unknown ninja replied shakily. I thought that since they didn't have the right scroll, the Rain ninja would just leave. I was wrong.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We'll kill you anyway!" the Rain ninja said before laughing. I was about to jump out and yell something at him when a hand clamped over my mouth, silencing me. I struggled against his grip.

"Shh." He whispered. I froze; it wasn't a voice I recognized.

"Listen, if you go out there, you'll die. And as for me, normally I probably would kill you, but for now you can trust me." He whispered. I felt something like a small circular gap in his hand against my lips.

"You'd better be quiet when I let you go, or I will kill you." He warned before removing his mouth. I turned to get a better look at him and immediately took out a kunai and held it in front of me.

"I told you I wasn't going to kill you, you know." He whispered. I continued to glare at him,

"You're teammate hurt my brother." I whispered harshly. The Sound ninja shrugged,

"So? Take it out on him." He replied. I studied this boy in front of me. He had long spikey black hair, dark eyes and wore face guard with his forehead protector on it. His beige shirt said shi, the kanji for death, and wore a snake-patterned scarf around his neck.

"Who are you?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and leaned forward more to watch the battle which I was no longer paying attention to.

"So many questions with you. My name's Zaku, and I suppose I have to ask for yours now." He replied seeming uninterested in me.

"Rae." I practically spat at him, "What are you even doing here?"

"Shh." He hissed and covered my mouth again. I was about to protest when I realized that the fight was over and whichever team won was now leaving. When they were gone, Zaku released me and made his way out of the bushes, I silently followed him.

"I saw you before and thought you looked interesting, so I followed you." He said, again seeming less interested in talking to me and more interested in the surroundings. I raised an eyebrow at his back.

"Really?" He turned back to me,

"No. I was following the Rain ninja with my team and while they were looking at someone else interesting, I followed them and just happened to find you." He replied. I huffed becoming annoyed with him,

"So why didn't you kill me?" I asked him. Zaku sighed,

"It's just one question after another with you isn't it? If you must know, I didn't feel like it. Besides," he said and quickly moved behind me and ran a finger down my cheek, "now that I can actually see you, it would have been a shame to mar your face." I jerked away from him as he laughed,

"Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" I asked and crossed my arms over my chest. Zaku stopped laughing and a sad expression came over his face,

"I never knew her. I never knew either of my parents." He said while looking up at the sky. I instantly felt sorry for him; I knew what it was like to not know who your parents were. But at least I had Kabuto.

"So I guess I should thank you…" I said changing the subject. Zaku looked back to me, a confused expression on his face.

"For practically saving my life?" I reminded him when he didn't say anything. He shrugged again,

"Don't mention it." He replied before turning away, "Anyway, I should probably get back before Dosu gets annoyed. Later." He jumped up into a nearby tree branch, but before he took off, he turned back to me.

"Seriously, don't mention I 'saved your life' and didn't kill you. It's bad for my reputation." With that, Zaku took off without waiting for a reply, leaving me to my confused thoughts.

The four days passed slowly for my team. We managed to secure the scroll we needed the first day and then just made our way slowly towards the tower.

"You two, go on ahead. Rae, come with me, I want to check something. We'll meet you guys there later." Kabuto said on the fourth afternoon. I frowned but complied. Whenever Kabuto had a feeling about something, it was usually right.

"Oniichan, what's wrong?" I asked as we ran silently through the trees.

"I think Naruto's team may be in trouble." He said. _Naruto…_ It was strange that I hadn't even seen his team once in the entire time we'd been here. But then, I hadn't seen anyone, except for Gaara. Once. Although he didn't see me, or if he did showed no signs of it. We found Naruto and Sakura just as they were about to open their scroll. Kabuto raced ahead and knocked the scroll out of Naruto's hand.

"Kabuto-san! What are you doing?" Naruto demanded. I jumped from the trees and walked over to them.

"That was close. The past years they've put a seal on the scrolls, so if someone opened it without the other scroll, they'd fall asleep until the exam was over. Who knows what they've done this time." Kabuto told them as he sat down.

"You were lucky Kabuto stopped you, Naruto." I said standing next to him.

"I guess we owe you thanks." Sakura said to us. I looked over to her and smiled. She looked so different. Her hair had been cut and was now short, and she'd looked like she'd seen something horrific. Sakura and I weren't close, but I considered us as friends, even if she was constantly babbling over Sasuke. She smiled back, but her eyes looked distant.

"Sakura, are you okay?" I asked kneeling next to her. She nodded just as a yell of fury echoed behind us. I turned to see Kabuto blocking Sasuke's kunai.

"What are you doing? They're trying to steal our scroll!" he shouted. I frowned,

"Uh, no. Kabuto just saved your butts, actually." I said.

"Yeah, if Kabuto and Rae didn't turn up when they did, we'd be done for." Naruto agreed. Sasuke lowered his kunai,

"What?" Kabuto smiled at him,

"Naruto and Sakura were about to open your scroll when Rae-chan and I found them." He said.

"Anyway, we have both our scrolls." I added. Beside me, Sakura sighed. _I guess they still haven't got the other one yet._ I thought just as Naruto confirmed it.

"Well, there's still a chance that you can get one. But your biggest opportunity is also the most dangerous. See, there are people who, even once they get the scroll they need, continue to collect more so they can trade them to teams in return for certain favours. Then there's the teams who wait to ambush other teams as they head towards the tower. Your best hope would be those teams, although they have traps set up everywhere." Kabuto said.

"Will you help us?" Naruto asked. I looked up at Kabuto who thought about it for a moment before saying,

"Well we're headed that way to meet up with the rest of our team. But, as I said before, there are traps everywhere. You'll have to stay sharp and do as I say." The three of them nodded and stood.

"Right, let's go before the smell of cooking fish attracts other teams." Kabuto said.

We ran all that afternoon and into the night, only stopping to catch our breaths, until the tower was finally in sight.

"There it is!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"Shh Naruto." I said as I studied our surroundings.

"Rae's right, there could be traps everywhere. So stay sharp." Kabuto said.

We'd been walking for a few hours, Naruto only stumbling across trip wires a few times.

"I can't go on." Sakura complained, "We've been walking for hours and the tower doesn't seem to be getting any closer." I stopped and turned back to Kabuto. He had the same thought,

"Damn it. I can't believe I didn't notice it." He said. Sakura and Naruto both turned back to look at us,

"Notice what?" Naruto asked.

"I thought this was too easy." I agreed as Kabuto and I stood back to back.

"We're caught in someone's genjutsu, and have been for quite some time now." Kabuto explained, "Look." He pointed to a giant centipede that we'd killed earlier.

"Damn it!" Naruto hissed.

"Which means that the user is somewhere close by." I whispered as I focused my chakra into my fingers. _Finally, I get to show them what I can do!_ Although we were in a very dangerous situation, I couldn't help but be excited. I hadn't had to fight anyone in the time we'd been in the forest, and it was beginning to bore me. I felt that Kabuto had been babying me too much, but now, since it was only the five of us, he had no chance to protect me.

There was movement all around us, as multiple Rain ninja emerged from out of the trees and the ground, surrounding us. They all wore a bandage covering their eyes, and an underwater breathing apparatus. Since they all looked the same, we assumed they were all clones.

"They're here." Sasuke said. _Well done Captain Obvious._ I thought sarcastically. Naruto smirked,

"This is a good handicap." I shook my head, of course Naruto would see this as a good thing. I sighed and glanced up at the sky, I could already tell this was going to take a while.

The clones continued to move in closer and closer.

"There are a lot of them. And they're all replications." Kabuto commented. One of the clones chuckled,

"Like a mouse in a trap." He said. I glared at him and cracked my knuckles, wiggling and loosening my fingers. Unfortunately, Naruto's short fuse got the best of him.

"Shut up!" he ordered as he threw a punch at the clone that'd laughed. To my surprise, it connected. Naruto hit the clone directly.

"Good job, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. I frowned, no way would it be that easy. There was something weird with those clones. Naruto's fist burst through the clone's side, collecting some goo-like substance with it. He crashed to the ground as the clone continued to stand.

"I knew it." I said softly. Kabuto nodded, he knew something was up as well. I gasped as another body appeared where Naruto's fist had made a hole. _What the hell are these things?!_

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, slowly getting up. The new clone produced a double bladed kunai and moved to attack Naruto, who was still getting to his feet.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried and threw three shuriken, severing the clone's arm. The clone then drew its attention to Sasuke and threw another double bladed kunai. Sasuke didn't move. Kabuto moved into the path of the kunai, the blade grazing his arm.

"Oniichan!" I cried as they both fell to the ground and the blade sunk into the ground behind us. Kabuto winced in pain as he stood back up and ran towards the blade. Sakura helped a frozen Sasuke up. I glared down at him as I quickly walked over to Kabuto. If there was one thing I hated more than Tenten, it was seeing the people I care about get hurt in front of me. Especially my brother.


	2. Hurt Him And You Die

Chapter two; Hurt Him And You Die.

Kabuto pulled the kunai out of the dirt and studied it, it was definitely real. The clones all began to talk at once, making what they were saying incomprehensible, as the continued to move in closer. I took out a kunai and stood in front of Kabuto in a defensive crouch. _No way are you going to hurt him again!_ I thought angrily. I could feel my fury burning through my veins, I wanted to slaughter every last one of these bastards.

"Since Kabuto-san got hurt, does it mean that they're shadow replications with real flesh?" Naruto asked us, "But, but…Shadow replications should disappear if they're hit cleanly. Since they don't disappear, are they really illusions? Which is it? Damn it!" Naruto moved to throw a kunai at the replications.

"It's useless. Stop!" Sasuke warned him. Strangely enough, Naruto listened.

"They're just illusions. It's an illusionary technique used by the enemy." Sasuke continued.

"But…" Sakura interrupted, "Kabuto-san's wound is real." I glared at the enemy again and gripped my kunai tighter.

"No, Sasuke's right." Kabuto said, confirming Sasuke's observation, "The enemy is most likely hidden somewhere and are attacking us from somewhere else while matching the illusion ninja's movements."

"It makes it seem like the replications are attacking us." I finished through gritted teeth.

"Yes." Kabuto said while placing a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

"Then I'll find the idiots hiding in the forest throwing knives at us, and beat them up!" Naruto said enthusiastically. _Get in line!_ My inner self raged.

"Wait, Naruto-kun." Kabuto said, "In this situation, the real knife is hidden, so we can't figure out the enemy's exact location. Do you understand now? That's their tactic. According to my data, those who are weak in hand-to-hand and close range combat prefer to attack like this."

"So, the real enemy won't come out until we can't move at all and then easily finish us off." I added.

"Yes. Listen, we can only dodge the enemy's attack right now. Engaging them in a fight would be a useless waste of energy." Kabuto told us.

"Damn. I'd love to rip these guys apart." I hissed. Kabuto squeezed my shoulder. The replications attacked, throwing more kunai. We all managed to block and dodge the knives as they flew at us. But we all knew that there was no way we could keep it up all night. We had to defeat these guys and get to the tower before the time was up.

"There's just no end to this!" Sakura complained as we dodged another rain of blades. Naruto formed a seal,

"Then I'll just…"

"No, Naruto, it'll be a waste of chakra." Kabuto said stopping him. Naruto held the seal, his face still excited,

"If we just get rid of all these illusions at once, the enemy can't attack during the time it takes for them to get back to normal." He said. I chuckled, it did seem like a good idea.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as more Naruto's appeared. There was so many of them it almost made me dizzy. I couldn't believe this was the same Naruto who couldn't even manage to summon one replication properly.

"No way…" I whispered. _Naruto, you're amazing._ All of the Naruto's charged at the illusions, kicking, punching, tackling, but the illusions just kept coming back.

"I'm not done yet!" Naruto yelled as they charged again.

"Sasuke, what should we do?" Sakura asked. Sasuke looked pissed,

"That idiot. We've got to fight, too!" he said angrily. I wondered what exactly had happened between Sasuke and Naruto. They seemed fine with each other during the beginning of the Exams, but now…now it was different.

"Sasuke's right, Naruto can't handle this alone." Kabuto agreed. I grinned evilly and cracked my finger again.

"Rae, stay close to me." Kabuto said getting out a kunai. I laughed,

"How about you stay close to me." I said and followed Naruto's form. Focusing my chakra to my fingers, I forced my way into a circle of illusions. Still grinning, I closed my eyes and opened up my senses, casting them out. I could feel Naruto going crazy nearby, and Sasuke, Sakura and Kabuto fighting close to each other. The illusions had no life force, but they had their own unique feel. It didn't take me long to accustom myself to them. As the circle slowly got tighter, I took a breath, waiting for the right moment. When I felt that they were close enough I snapped open my eyes and began to move, conducting my orchestra of death. The music in my head kept my movements in time. My arms danced around me as my fingers connected with the illusions' bodies, slicing off heads and limbs. If it was a normal human, their nervous system, chakra circulation path and pressure points would all be feeling my technique, but since these weren't human, my fingers sliced through them with ease. I danced my way around the circle, thinning it and making it bigger, just the way I'd been training to. I closed my eyes and let my senses guide me, getting caught in the moment.

"Rae!" I heard Kabuto yell. I opened my eyes to find my fingers inches away from his heart. I stopped instantly, slightly dazed.

"Sorry, Oniichan." I said, "I got lost in my song."

"Duck!" He said, I did without hesitation as his arm flew right through the air where my head was and stabbed an illusion. One appeared behind him, so moulding chakra in my hand, I used the ground as leverage and skidded through Kabuto's open legs, then focusing chakra into my foot, I released the chakra from my hand, and pushed up aiming for the illusion's middle. I sailed straight through it and landed, dirt flying everywhere.

"Wha…" Kabuto coughed, fanning dust away.

"I think I used a bit too much force." I said smiling apologetically. We continued to fight until it started to become light, by then we were all exhausted.

"Kabuto!" I cried as he crashed back into a tree trunk. I punched the illusion I was fighting in the face and raced over to him. Just as I fell to my knees beside him, Sasuke and Sakura collapsed from exahaustion. Naruto's last shadow clone was thrown to the ground, and disappeared, as he lay, panting, in the dirt.

"I'm… not done yet…" he said breathlessly as he moved to sit up. Suddenly, the illusions began to disperse, which meant only one thing. They were coming. The three Rain ninja appeared from behind their illusions. It was only one who had been using the illusion, the other two also had bandages over their eyes, but one had only one eye covered and the other at both uncovered. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all seemed to have met them beforehand.

"You." one said to Sasuke, "You're the one who injured my left shoulder, right? I finally found you. You wasted our time. How lucky, I can get revenge." He pulled out a kunai and chuckled. In response, Naruto smirked.

"Like a mouse in a trap." said Sasuke from his hiding spot. The head Rain ninja's eyes widened as the three of them desperately searched for him.

"Well done Naruto." Sakura voiced. The Rain ninja all studied the beings in front of them. I smiled at them, our plan had worked. They spun around to see the real Sasuke, Sakura and Kabuto behind them.

"What did they do?" the head ninja gasped, "That can't be! When did they...?"

"You idiots finally showed yourselves." Naruto said, still smirking. The Sakura, Sasuke and Kabuto at his side turned into three more Naruto's, all looking just as eager to kick some Rain ninja butt.

"What? Did this kid…It can't be!" the Rain ninja stuttered in astonishment.

"I used the Shadow Replication just to set up this trick, so that I could pretend to be everyone from this team, except Rae." Naruto explained, standing up.

"I couldn't let Naruto have all the fun. Besides, you guys hurt someone close to me." I said, pointing at them, "So I owe you…" The three other Naruto's disappeared.

"Once Naruto undid his replications, the three of us hid." Sasuke finished, "So an illusionary master was fooled." _But it used up a lot of chakra._ I thought as Naruto dropped to one knee, panting.

"Naruto." Sasuke called, "Naruto, you used up too much chakra. I'll do the rest." I stood,

"Like hell you will, Sasuke." The three Rain ninja looked from me to Sasuke, confused on what they should do. While they were distracted, Naruto took the opportunity to throw a massive punch, knocking them to the ground. Suffice to say we were all shocked, and I was a little but annoyed.

"I'm not going to let you take all the good parts like that" Naruto said proudly. Although annoyed, I was impressed at his stamina. The three Rain ninja stood shakily and moved into a line.

"Pretty good. But we're not in an unlucky situation yet." The head ninja said as they began to form a seal. I glared,

"Huh, maybe I will get some fun after all." I muttered.

"Time is running out." He continued, "We'll show you our ninjutsu now! Ninpou, Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu!" I sighed as tonnes of Rain ninja replications appeared.

"A bit repetitive aren't we." I mumbled.

"Shadow replications?" Naruto asked.

"No, they're just normal replications." Sasuke answered from behind us, "But they must have some sort of tactic worked out. Be careful." _Why don't you come in and help us, lazy ass._ I thought bitterly.

"If they're just replications, then there's only one real one." Naruto said laughing slightly, "I'll beat everyone until I hit the real one." I glanced at Naruto. He was panting, and he must have been exhausted, and yet he was still ready to fight. _Naruto, I wish I had your stamina._

"You idiot! That's a waste of energy." Sasuke replied.

"I told you not to interfere!" Naruto growled angrily and charged headstrong into the replication mass. I hung back, waiting until he found the real ones. I didn't care if he took out the other two, I just wanted to get my hands on the bastard who'd hurt Kabuto.

"Naruto! It's impossible!" Sakura called out. I smirked; clearly they didn't know Naruto as well as they thought. He hated giving up, and when he says that he's going to do something, you could be sure he would. Naruto just continued on, ignoring everyone and punched a Rain ninja in the face. He flew straight through it. He continued punching and kicking, only to hit through more replications. Kabuto appeared amongst them and tried to get Naruto to stop and failed. They both began to look for the real one. Behind me, Sasuke screamed in pain. I whirled around, expecting to see a Rain ninja, but instead saw Sasuke clutching his neck crying out, and Sakura at his side trying to comfort him. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my brother and Naruto. While Naruto was distracted by Sasuke's cry of pain, the real Rain ninja took the opportunity to attack.

"You let your guard down!" He said as he raised a kunai and brought it down over Naruto's head. I raced towards him, hoping I'd make it in time. I got to them just as Kabuto dived and pushed Naruto out of the way, getting his leg sliced in the process. I screamed in fury and charged at the Rain ninja, kunai in hand, as Kabuto and Naruto crashed to the ground. I stabbed the air where he'd been a second ago.

"Another replication." I spat.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled.

"Stop, Naruto." commanded Sasuke, "No matter how much you try, the real one isn't in those replications." I dropped to my knees beside Kabuto and placed my hand on his leg.

"Rae, don't." he said, "You need your chakra." I glared up at him.

"I'm just looking at it. Shut up." I hissed. Kabuto grunted but did as he was told. The cut on his leg was deep but not life threatening. I ripped off a strip of my dress and wrapped it around his leg.

"That's the best I can do, for now." I said. He nodded,

"I know."

"Then where's the enemy going to attack from?" Naruto asked Sasuke, "If they are normal replications, the replications themselves can't attack us!"

"If we knew that, there's no need for us to work this hard." Sasuke replied in an irritated tone, "This is the enemy's plan." Kabuto tried to stand. Naruto moved to help Kabuto up as I walked over to get my kunai. In the reflection of the blade I saw a replication hurl a kunai at Naruto as he stood up, back to them.

"Naruto!" I cried and raced over to them. I leapt as the knife flew closer, and dived in front of Naruto. I felt the blade sink into my shoulder. Pain shot down my shoulder as I sailed through the air and crashed to the ground.

"Rae!" I heard Kabuto shout. I coughed as dust inhabited my sinuses, and shakily propped myself up onto my uninjured arm. I tried to wiggle my fingers, the pain intensified. I looked over to Kabuto, just as a replication tackled him and sent him flying into the trunk of a nearby tree. Rage filled my veins and before I could blink I was sprinting over to him, dodging replications. I stood in front of Kabuto, eyes to the ground. He coughed behind me and spat blood,

"Rae. You're hurt." He wheezed. The replication took a step forward.

"Take one more step," I hissed angrily as my head snapped up, my sight had been heightened by my anger. I could see straight through the replications and focused on the real one, who was hiding amongst them. The replication took a step.

"I'll kill you!" I screamed, ripping the kunai from my shoulder. My left arm hung limply as my right was outstretched and filling with power. I ran forward slicing the replications as they tried to stop me. I threw the kunai in front of me, it sailed through five replications and sliced the cheek of the real ninja.

"Gotcha." I hissed and sprinted at him. Weaving and dodging the replications. I slid through one's legs and stabbed it with another kunai. Kneeling, replications surrounded. I smirked, tightening my grip on the kunai and rolled in circle. Slicing the legs of the replications until there was an opening in front of me. My chakra gathered in my legs and I pushed off the ground. I charged at the real ninja.

"What the…?" he gasped as my foot connected with his stomach. I spun in the air and kicked at the back of his knees. He dropped, and I spun again, hooked my leg on his side and in one fluid motion, I pushed him to the ground and straddled him.

"Die." I growled pressing the kunai to his throat. I felt the ninja struggle beneath me, so I focused my chakra into my legs and became like a rock. He whimpered at my increased strength and I pushed the kunai closer, breaking the skin and drawing blood.

"Rae," said a voice in my ear, "That's enough. You can stop." Like a veil had been lifted, I realized what I was doing, and relaxed. Panting, I rested my hand on the ninja's chest, who was also breathing heavily. My chakra circuit burned with pain and I felt lightheaded. A hand rested on my shoulder and I looked beside me to see Kabuto, blatantly worried. There was a smear of dried blood in the corner of his mouth from where he'd wiped it away. I looked back down to the ninja beneath me, remembering why I had attacked him. Taking a deep breath, I raised the kunai above my head and brought it down. It sunk hilt deep into the earth beside the ninja's head. A tear rolled down his cheek as Kabuto helped me up. I leaned heavily on him, knowing I'd fall if I was to stand on my own.

"I'll stop the bleeding now, then heal you properly when we get to the tower." Kabuto said as he helped me to sit on the ground. I nodded, the motion making the world spin. _Damn it_. I was moments from passing out, _I used too much chakra._ The last thing I saw before darkness set in was the green glow of healing chakra.

"Rae!" I heard someone cry. I moaned and slowly opened my eyes. Something cold and wet was touching my hand.

"What happened?" commanded another, deeper, voice.

"Relax, she's fine. She just used too much chakra, that's all." replied an older and familiar voice. _Three people…I know them…Who?_ I thought, dazed.

"Look, she's waking up." the first voice said. The fog from my eyes cleared and three faces came into focus. I looked right up into the chocolate eyes and worried face of a boy wearing a grey hoodie with dark brown fur lining the outside.

"Kiba…" I moaned. He grinned down at me, relieved I was okay.

"I'm here, Rae." He said then looked up, "Told you she'd say my name first." There was a huff of annoyance to my right. I turned my head to see Neji kneeling beside me, and Akamaru licking my hand.

"Neji? What…?" I said trying to sit up. Kiba supported my shoulders so I didn't fall back down from the dizziness.

"Rae, we're at the tower. You fainted just as I was stopping your shoulder wound, then I carried you here." Kabuto said from my left.

"Huh?" I said stupidly as I looked at him. I didn't remember any of that. I didn't even remember how I got wounded. I looked at my shoulder, sure enough; there was a kunai sized cut. Kiba chuckled and pulled me into his lap, I rested my head on his chest.

"I think she's still a bit out of it." He said wrapping his arms around my middle. Kabuto smiled and nodded,

"Just leave her like that for a few more minutes while her head clears." He said standing up, "I'll come back and check on her soon." And with that, he walked away leaving me with Kiba, Neji and Akamaru.

"So you guys got through it okay, huh?" I said to them. Neji nodded, and looked over to where his team was. Lee looked like hell and Tenten looked, well like Tenten. Annoying.

"Yeah. Well, more or less." Kiba said. I looked up at him, he was focused on Akamaru, concern in his eyes. I sat up and turned to him, frowning.

"What happened?" I asked him, making him look at me. He sighed,

"It's just that, we stumbled across those Sand ninja, the red headed kid and the other two. Ever since that, Akamaru has been…well…" he said as Akamaru clambered up into his jacket, whimpering. I looked up to see Gaara and his team walk past. _If Akamaru is acting like that, then that means that Gaara is really strong. Maybe even dangerous. I'm glad we never ran into him._

"Time's up! Please form a line in your teams." Anko announced. Kiba helped me up and we all walked over to where everyone was gathered. Kabuto took the front and I stood behind him. We were in between Neji's team and Gaara's team.

"First off, congratulations to everyone for passing the Second Exam." Anko said. I noticed the Sound ninja's sensei smile at Kabuto. I didn't like him, something about him seemed off.

"We will now have an explanation of the Third Exam from Hokage-sama." Anko continued. I was still finding it strange that all of the sensei's were here, and Hokage-sama himself. This wasn't going to be good. The Third stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention.

"The Third Exam will begin, but before the explanation, there's one thing I want to make clear to everyone. It's about the true purpose of this exam." he said. I closed my eyes, Kabuto had already told me that the true purpose of the Chūnin Exam was to assess how strong the neighbouring countries shinobi are, and to decide in a 'civilized' manner, the strongest country.

"In this Third Exam, feudal lords and famous people from various countries who may potential clients are invited here as guests." Hokage-sama continued, "Feudal lords from hidden villages and ninja leaders will see your battles. If there's a significant difference in power, the strong country will be flooded with jobs, just as if a country is seen as weak then jobs will decrease. Also, countries are able to show how their village has grown and possess excellent military power to the adjacent countries. In other words, they can put foreign pressure on them."

"So why do we fight with the risk of losing our lives?" Kiba asked and glanced over at me. I gave him a small smile.

"A country's power is the village's power. A village's power is the ninja's power. And a ninja's true power is only born in life-or-death situations." Hokage-sama replied, "This Exam is also an opportunity to show off the ninja power of one's country." _Typical, it always has to do with power._ The third continued to explain the Exam's true meaning and answered any question thrown at him.

"I don't care." Gaara muttered, "Tell us the details of the life-or-death exam." He seemed very bored, almost like he didn't really want to be there. It reminded me a little of Shikamaru.

"Then I will now explain the Third Exam, but…" the Third was interrupted by Hayate. I'd treated Hayate many times before, he always seemed to be sick with something. Today was no different. He looked pale and sickly, and coughed after every second sentence.

"Everyone, it's nice to meet you." He said turning to face us after briefly talking to the Third. I smiled at him. I liked Hayate, even if he was sick all the time, he was an amazingly nice guy. Although not many people shared my welcome expression.

"Everyone, before the Third Exam *cough* there's something I want you to do." He said before another round of coughing, "Fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battles." There was an uproar of questions. Hayate sighed before answering,

"In this case, it must have been because the First and Second Exams were too easy, I don't know, but there are too many of you." He replied, "According to the Chunin regulations, we must decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam." I closed my eyes again, this would be a great opportunity to see just how strong our enemies are. _Although,_ I thought and looked towards Kiba, _There's still a high chance of death even with Hayate judging._

"So, those who aren't feeling well *cough cough*. Excuse me. If anyone wants to quit after hearing the explanation, please let me know." Hayate continued, "The preliminary matches will commence immediately." I frowned, my body was tired and I didn't know if I had recovered enough chakra to fight yet. I stared at Kabuto's back trying to decide whether or not I'd fight. _If I fight, depending on who I fight, there's a fifty-fifty chance I'll win. But then again, there's always next year. But I've already gotten this far. Surely I can at least try._

"Immediately?" Kiba shouted angrily, snapping me back to the present.

"We just got through the second exam." Ino complained. I sighed and began an internal assessment of my body. My left shoulder, although slightly damaged was still able to function relatively well, but aside from being a bit stiff, my body was fine. Next was my chakra circuit. _Damn, still recovering. If I don't get called first, I should be fine though._

"Rae, do you think you can fight?" Kabuto whispered to me.

"Despite being tired, yes." I whispered back. He nodded.

"Uh, I forgot to mention this, but you'll have one-on-one matches from here on out." Hayate said, "So please withdraw if you wish." I glanced around at everyone's faces, they all seemed deadly intent on staying. Even the Sound ninja with broken arms was keen on going all the way. But the one person I thought would never withdraw raised his hand.

"Oniichan…" I whispered staring at his back.

"What is it?" The Third asked as everyone's attention was drawn to Kabuto.

"I'll quit." He said happily. I frowned at his back, _Oniichan…why?_ The room fell silent, until Naruto could no longer hold it in,

"Kabuto-san…" he said, I knew he was feeling what I was. Hayate sighed again,

"Let's see…" he said and looked at his clipboard, "You're Konoha's Kabuto Yakushi, right? You may leave then." I grabbed Kabuto's arm as he turned and walked past.

"Oniichan…?" I whispered. He smiled down at me,

"You'll be fine." He said.

"Kabuto-san, why are you quitting?" Naruto called to him, "Why?" Kabuto turned to him, slightly shocked at his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but my body is completely worn out already. Even before the First Exam I had quarrelled with those Sound guys, I couldn't hear anything in my left ear." He explained, "I can't fight right away, especially if it's a life or death battle." He said something to Yoroi before waving to Naruto and leaving. Everyone watched him leave, Naruto seemed so shocked to see him go.

Since no one else withdrew, Hayate started the preliminary battles. Luckily, I wasn't up first. But I didn't expect that it would be Yoroi against Sasuke. I frowned as I made my way up to the observation deck with Kiba, Shino and Hinata. I wondered who was stronger out of them both. _Come to think of it, I've never seen Yoroi-san fight at all._

"Rae?" Kiba asked slinging his arm around my shoulders, earning a glare from Neji.

"Hmm?" I asked looking up at him.

"He's from your team, right?" he repeated. I nodded,

"But I never really had anything to do with those two. It was usually just me and Oniichan." I confessed, "I've even seen either of them fight before. I have no idea how strong they are or what their techniques are." I hated to admit it but I was worried for Sasuke. If these two were teamed with Kabuto, they were strong. Kiba shrugged,

"Sasuke will be able to handle it. He did get top of our class." He said unphased. _I hope you're right, Kiba._ I sighed. Despite my concerns, Sasuke beat Yoroi. The fights continued until my name was finally drawn. My opponent was easy to beat. I let him believe that I was as weak as I looked, luring him into a false sense of confidence before kicking his ass. The fight itself only last three minutes. Tenten was up after me. Her opponent was Temari, a member of Gaara's team. Temari beat her easily, part of me was happy at that, but the way she acted afterwards pissed me off. She treated Tenten like a piece of trash. I desperately wanted to hit her afterwards. But the next fight was about to start.

"I thought you hated Tenten." Kiba commented as Shikamaru made his way down.

"I do. But I don't like people who treat others like rubbish without reason. Besides, Tenten is from Konoha, and whether I like her or not, she's a fellow shinobi, and therefore comrade. We defend our own." I said. Kiba pulled me closer and rested his cheek on the top of my head,

"Kind of like a pack of dogs." He whispered. I chuckled, Kiba would always say something involving dogs. After all, he was part canine. Shikamaru's battle went smoothly, many people underestimated his abilities, but after playing Sho with him many times, I knew he was incredibly smart.

"Please don't let me be with that sand guy." Kiba complained.

"Looks like your wish came true." I commented as Kiba's name flashed onto the screen along with Naruto's.

"Ha! This will be a breeze." He said grinning, "Wish me luck." He turned but I grabbed his arm.

"Be careful Kiba. Don't underestimate him." I said and let him go.

"I'll be fine, babe." He said and kissed my cheek. I blushed as he walked down the stairs.

"So, what's going on with you and Kiba?" Ino asked as she stood next to me.

"N-nothing." I stuttered, "You know us. We're always like that." Ino raised a delicate blonde brow,

"Yeah, you two have always been close, but that's the first time I've ever seen him do that." She mused.

"Was bound to happen sooner or later." Shino said, "Dogs like to mark their territory."

"Shino! What the hell is that supposed to mean? Rae's not some tree he can piss on!" Ino screeched at him. I smiled,

"Ino, he didn't mean it like that." I liked the thought of being Kiba's territory. Ino kept arguing and yelling at Shino.

"Rae-san?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" I replied, still watching Kiba and Akamaru fight Naruto. Honestly, I didn't care who won.

"What…What are you going to do?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, puzzled.

"Well…" she said softly and looking at the ground, "Kiba-kun likes you, and you like Kiba-kun. But…uh…" She looked away. She wanted to tell me something, I was sure of it.

"Hinata, what is it? What do you want to tell me?"

"Well…I…uh…" She took a deep breath, gulped and then blurted, "Neji-kun likes you too." I stared at her, shocked. _Neji? _It was true that we'd been spending almost every day together for months, but that was just training. We'd rarely see each otherwise. I looked over to Neji who was leaning against the wall near Gai, arms crossed. His usual pose. _Neji likes me?_ He sensed me staring at him and gave a quick small smile.

"Are you sure, Hinata?" I asked her. She nodded,

"I overheard him talking to his father about you." She whispered. _His father?_ Neji's father had died when he was little. _He must have been talking to his spirit._

"Gatsuuga!" Kiba yelled and there was a massive gust of wind. I looked back down to the fight which Kiba was winning. _Kiba…Neji…_ I sighed, I had to talk to Kabuto. He'd give me some advice. I leaned against the rail and sighed.

"Rae-chan?" Hinata asked. I smiled at her,

"I'll figure it out." I said and focused back on the fight. Movement ahead caught my attention briefly, I looked up to see Gaara staring at me. Even from this distance, I could almost feel the loneliness radiating off of him. Even if he was a dangerous as Akamaru believed, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata whispered. I looked back down to the fight where Naruto was lying face down. There was now two Kiba's and they both looked equally dangerous. Kiba began tormenting Naruto and laughing. _Too far, Kiba._ My eyes widened as Naruto stood up, again. I smiled,

"Told you not to underestimate him, Kiba." I muttered as the fight began again. It looked like Kiba was going to win, but, Naruto being Naruto, wasn't going to give up that easily. After farting, and hindering Kiba's sense of smell, Naruto summoned four more Naruto's attacked Kiba with a taijutsu that mimicked both Lee's and Sasuke's combos.

"Kiba!" I cried as he landed face first onto the concrete. The fake Naruto's disappeared as Kiba lay, unmoving on the ground. I gripped the metal railing, fighting an urge to jump into the arena. Hayate walked over and checked Kiba. Coughing, he stood and addressed us.

"Winner, Naruto Uzamaki." He said and called for a medical team. Since the battle was over I jumped down and rushed over to where Kiba was lying and dropped to my knees beside him.

"Kiba." I whispered as he groaned in pain, blood spilling from his mouth.


	3. Darkness Without You

Chapter Three; Darkness Without You.

*Author's note – I'm going to skip through the Third Exam and everything that happens during it pretty quickly since I was too descriptive in the first two chapters teehee*

It had been just over a month since the preliminary battles and Kabuto had been helping me come up with a new move. It was proving difficult. My battle was the last one with an adversary I knew nothing about. I'd been in the recovery room with Kiba when my opponent won his fight. Ino had told me that he was nothing compared to Sasuke or Gaara, which meant I wasn't going to get completely smashed. Even though Kabuto was doing his best to help, I needed Neji. Neji understood the way I moved and thought in battle, but alas, he was training for his own battle against Naruto.

"You'll be fine." Kiba said on the day of the Exam. I sighed before heading into the arena where everyone but Naruto, Sasuke and Dosu were standing.

"They're late?" I asked Shikamaru. He nodded,

"Expected from Naruto, but Sasuke's usually on time." He said. I shrugged,

"Their loss." I said just as Naruto burst through the door screaming about something. I sized up the new judge, since Hayate had been too 'incapacitated' to attend. Genma Shiranui seemed like a deep kind of guy. He always had a senbon in his mouth. I wondered if he'd ever stabbed his tongue with it before. He addressed the crowd and then sent us up to the landing where we were to wait for a battle and watch.

"Genma-sensei…" I said as I passed him. I'd wanted to ask someone this for a few days now, and I thought Genma would be the best person to ask.

"Hmm?" he replied, looking down at me.

"Hayate-san…" I began, Genma flinched, "I haven't seen him in a while. I'm usually the one who takes care of him when he's sick." Genma was silent, he was hiding something. But that was all the answer I needed to confirm my thoughts.

"He's not incapacitated, is he?" I said blatantly. Genma met my eyes, his were full of sorrow.

"No." he whispered. I closed my eyes, willing my tears away. I couldn't lose my focus, not now.

"We were going to tell you all after the Exam. But I never thought Hayate's own doctor would be participating." He said softly, "Or be so intuitive." I let out a shaky breath.

"He meant something to you, didn't he?" Genma asked. I nodded,

"Hayate was a good friend of mine." I replied, swallowing the sob that threatened to explode.

"Then he'd want you to do well, Rae." Genma said sympathetically. I took a deep breath, forced my tears back and squared my shoulders. He was right.

"Sensei…How did he…" I thought of Hayate's smiling face, "How did he die?"

"ANBU's looking into it. You need to go, I'm about to start the first battle." Genma said gently. I nodded and made my way up to the landing.

"So it's true then?" Shino asked as I joined him and Shikamaru. I nodded,

"Hayate Gekkō was killed." Shikamaru whispered, "He was an ANBU member, even if he was sick half the time, so whoever fought him must have been strong."

I didn't really pay too much attention on the battles happening below, my mind was too focused on memories of Hayate.

"You should focus on what's happening now." Said a low, calm voice. I jumped in surprise. I hadn't sensed Gaara this close to me, but there he was, right beside me. _I wonder if this was how Sasuke felt?_

"Gaara, right?" I asked him. He nodded, watching Shikamaru fighting Temari. I studied this boy beside me. He was a little taller than me, but not by much. He held himself with his arms crossed over his chest, a 'protective stance' as Neji would say. He wished to shield himself from others, Hinata did it a lot too. Gaara was definitely intriguing. I could see that there were many layers to him, that his cold exterior had been moulded from, what I could only guess, years of hardship. In fact, I don't even recall seeing him smile once.

"And you're Rae Ikeda." He said, coolly. I raised an eyebrow at him,

"You know my name?" He turned an icy gaze on me,

"Yes. Just as you know mine." He replied. I stared into his eyes, looking right through his cold demeanour.

"So, Gaara, who's your new friend?" asked an older and taller boy. He wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. The suit was complete with a hood with cat-like ears and forehead protector, which covered everything but his face. He had purple painted triangles, which reminded me of Kiba's cheeks.

"Ikeda. Rae." I said as he looked me up and down. _Is this guy a pervert or something?_ Gaara closed his eyes,

"Forgive my brother's intrusion." He said, sounding a little annoyed. The boy grinned at me,

"My intrusion? I think she should be forgiving your lack of manners, little brother." He said, "My name's Kankuro." He held out his hand and I responded by holding mine out, preparing to shake his. Just as my fingers reached his hand, he took mine and held it to his lips, brushing them gently against my skin. I could almost feel Kiba's growl if he saw this. Despite not being attracted to this boy, I blushed. Gaara grunted with irritation and turned back to watch Shikamaru and Temari.

"I see your guy hasn't turned up either." Kankuro said as he released my hand. It was true, my opponent hadn't turned up, and neither had Sasuke. At this rate, they'd both be disqualified, and I'd have to fight Gaara. _Perhaps this was why he was talking to me? Maybe he was trying to work me out?_

"Hey, if you two have to fight, you'd better be easy on her, Gaara." Kankuro said in a light tone, although I sensed a deeper and serious meaning behind it.

"It won't come to that." Gaara replied, "The Uchiha will turn up."

"You sound so sure. In the years I've known him, Sasuke's never been late for anything." I commented darkly.

"You two don't get on?" Kankuro said, catching my sinister tone. I huffed,

"I hate him. He's conceited and annoying. All he ever talks about is himself. It's like he thinks he's better than all of us."

"I bet you could kick his ass." Kankuro said flirtatiously. I chuckled,

"Doubtful. As much as I hate him boasting, there is some truth to what he says. Although…" I said thinking back to the Forest and Naruto. I glanced over at where he was shouting encouragement to Shikamaru.

"Although?" Gaara said, willing me to continue. I turned back to them, both he and Kankuro were staring at me, waiting for me to finish.

"Although he's not as strong as he thinks he is." I replied and turned my attention to the battle. Shikamaru had caught Temari in his Shadow Bind. They both had their hands raised.

"I quit." Shikamaru said, causing the once cheering crowd to boo him. Naruto began yelling at him.

"Winner, Temari." Genma announced, he seemed just as shocked as everyone else. Naruto jumped down to yell at Shikamaru some more.

"Hm, still no Sasuke." I said as Temari made her way back up to us.

"Gaara says he'll turn up." Kankuro said, "And Gaara's usually right." I turned to look at Gaara, only to find an empty spot.

"Huh?" I said looking around for him, "I didn't even feel him leave."

"He does that." Temari said, "Although you, whoever you are, are lucky to get that close to him." I blinked at her,

"Why would that be?" I asked.

"Because he's…" Kankuro began but Temari cut him off,

"Gaara doesn't usually like people."

"I figured." I said and looked back at where Shikamaru and Naruto were still standing. There was a puff of smoke and Kakashi and Sasuke appeared.

"Huh, looks like he was right after all." I said.

"Who?" Temari asked me.

"Gaara." Kankuro and I answered at the same time. Temari stared at me in disbelief,

"He spoke to you?" she asked. I nodded, not too sure why she was so surprised. She pushed past Kankuro, who had taken Gaara's sudden absence to move closer to me, and gripped my shoulders.

"What did you say to get him to talk to you?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing. He just…spoke." I said simply. She let go of my shoulders and stared at me in wonder.

"What?" I asked when I got sick of her staring.

"Who are you?" she asked flat out. I didn't know whether or not to be offended.

"Rae Ikeda of Konoha?" I replied in the form of a question. Kankuro laughed and placed himself between me and Temari.

"C'mon Sis, you'll frighten her away." He said winking at me. I was about to say something when Gaara and Sasuke began fighting. The battle was intense. Sasuke's attacks were blocked by Gaara's sand and Gaara's attacks were dodged by Sasuke easily. It was even. The battle had been going on for a while now, and still Shikamaru and Naruto hadn't returned. _Something's up._ I decided to go find them. After exploring a few places, I found myself down in the infirmary.

"Sorry!" I said as a shirtless Neji stared at me. I stood in the doorway dumbfounded. I'd never seen him shirtless before, his abs glowed in the sunlight.

"Can I help you with something, Rae?" he said in a low voice as he took a few steps towards me. I had completely forgotten why I was walking around.

"Uhh…" was my brilliant response. _Damn you brain, form some comprehensible words!_ Neji cocked his head slightly to the side,

"Rae?" he asked again. I shook my head, clearing the fogginess from my brain as my cheeks flushed red.

"Um, no. Not unless you've seen Naruto and Shikamaru? It's been ages and they're still not up with us." I said quickly. Neji smiled, catching me completely off guard, and sending me into another daze.

"Rae, do you really think those two would be down here?" he said taking a few more steps. I shook my head,

"Of course not." I said, they weren't the type to get medical aide after a battle, even if they didn't need it.

"But since you're here, there's something I want to ask you." Neji said. My breath caught and my heartbeat raced.

"What would that be?" I replied happy my voice didn't give away my nervousness. He opened his mouth to speak just as a loud bang echoed through the building, shaking the walls.

"What the hell was that?" he asked instead of his intended question.

"I don't know, but I have to go." I said turning and sprinting back down the hallway. _I have to find…_ Who? I didn't know who I had to find. Names and faces flashed through my mind as I ran up the stairs that led to the grandstand. I started to feel sleepy as I neared the entrance. _Gen…jutsu…_ I thought sleepily. Forming the appropriate hand seal I forced myself to stay awake.

"Release!" I commanded and was instantly awake again. _What the hell is going on?_ I thought as I stealthily made my way to the entrance. Keeping to the shadows, I saw Shikamaru lying on the ground. As I was about to whisper his name, his eyes fluttered open and he spoke to someone. I rounded the corner to see Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei and a small Nin-Dog.

"I see you weren't caught either, Rae." Kakashi said, his back to me. Everyone was asleep, except for a group of ninja, all of which Kakashi and Gai were fighting on their own. I glanced down at the arena, there was no sign of Gaara or Sasuke.

"Rae, go with Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and Pakkun." Kakashi told me.

"Yes sir." I said. We took off into the forest.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell I missed?" I demanded as we raced through the trees.

"The Sand and Sound betrayed us, and now Sasuke's gone after Gaara, and those other two. Kakashi-sensei told us to help him." Sakura said. _Gaara…_ I quickened my pace, _Just hold on._ I didn't know why I felt the need to protect Gaara, I just had to. It took us forever to catch up to Sasuke, and when we did, I'd wished we handed. I stared in horror at what was in front of me. The half monster, half Gaara grinned evilly at us. _Gaara…_ _First thing's first._ I thought as I looked as Sasuke who was lying on his stomach, barely able to move, with strange marking all over his body. Kneeling beside him, I quickly checked his vitals. His chakra system had taken a massive beating, and those weird markings had immobilized his body somehow. But other than that he was fine.

"Rae?" Sakura asked me, clearly worried about Sasuke. I glanced at her, she seemed to be familiar with the markings that were covering his body, she was staring at them.

"He's got a few cuts and bruises, and his chakra system is hammered, but he's fine." I said to her, trying to reassure her. She didn't buy it, and I didn't blame her. A small whimper caught my attention. I looked passed Gaara to the tree behind him. There was Temari looking absolutely terrified.

"Sakura, stay with Sasuke." I ordered her and took off into the trees. I briefly saw Gaara's head move in my direction, but he became distracted with Naruto. Dodging his gaze, I jumped over to Temari.

"Rae?" She said half glad to see me, half in shock.

"What the hell is that attached to Gaara?" I asked her, she was slightly singed from an explosion, but not hurt enough that I had to heal her.

"It's the monster inside him. When Gaara was a baby, his father, the Kazekage, sealed Shukaku inside him. He hoped that Gaara would be the Sand's ultimate weapon. But everyone became scared and hated Gaara. That's why he doesn't like people, he doesn't even like us! He'd kill us if we pissed him off enough." She said, tears forming in her eyes, "That's why I was so shocked when you said he'd spoken to you. Gaara distances himself from people unless he's going to kill them." I heard Sakura scream and turned back to them. Gaara was clutching his head and crying out in pain, as Shukaku's arm held Sakura to a tree.

"Gaara." I whispered and moved to jump over to them. Temari grabbed my arm,

"No. He'll kill you. Why do you think I'm over here. There's no way to control him. Not when he's like that." She said, "We have to get out of here." I shook my arm free,

"What do you mean 'we'? The Sand betrayed Konoha, you're the enemy." I said, harshly. Temari took a step back,

"If I'm the enemy, then why did you come over here. And why are you so worried about Gaara. More so than your own comrades." She said. Truth was, I didn't know why I was over there with her, or why I was so worried about Gaara.

"I guess I'm worried about him because I saw just how fragile he really is." I said as the words formed in my mind.

"I know my friends, Sasuke, although he's an ass, he's strong and Sakura is smart, as smart as me, and more powerful than she realizes." I continued, "And Naruto. Naruto is probably the only person who can understand Gaara. Plus, he's Konoha's number one ninja at surprising people."

As the battle moved further away from us, I re-joined Sasuke, Sakura and Pakkun. Sasuke was trying to stand.

"You're nowhere near strong enough to be doing that just yet." I said gently forcing him to lie back down.

"I have to…" he winced.

"Shh. You don't have to do anything. Naruto's handling it." I told him while taking another assessment of him. He went to move again.

"Idiot." I hissed, placing my hand on his chest and forcing him back down, "Stay still or I can't help you." Sasuke grunted but complied.

"I don't know what this thing is, or how you got it, but it's doing serious damage to you, Sasuke. If you keep using it, it'll kill you." I said as the green glow of healing chakra gathered in my hands. Sasuke didn't say anything.

"I guess you've already had that speech, huh." I muttered as I began healing his muscles. He was lucky I was here, how he was able to stand before, I had no idea. His muscles were torn badly.

"Listen, Sasuke. There's no way I can heal you properly here, we need to get you to the hospital immediately." I told him, he glared at me. "But I can tell you're not going anywhere until you know Sakura and Naruto are safe, right? That's as long as I'm willing to let you stay. As soon as Naruto…as soon as the fight's over, I'm taking you to the hospital. No complaints. Deal?"

"Fine." Sasuke said. I was glad he didn't pick up on inability to say 'finish Gaara off'. There was a loud crack as trees snapped nearby. Naruto was sure doing some remodelling. I silently prayed that both of them would be safe. I glanced back at Temari, who nodded to me, and took off. _Gaara…_ I thought again. I fought an urge to follow her, and instead focused back on healing Sasuke. After a moment, everything fell silent.

"It's quiet." Sasuke said sitting up. I stopped my flow of chakra and rocked back on my heels.

"Sakura!" Sasuke cried as he leapt to catch her from falling to the ground. Shakaku's sand had let her go, which meant that the monster was supressed and Gaara was at his limit.

"Damn." I muttered and took off in the same direction as Temari had moments ago, Sasuke close behind me. We arrived as Naruto was crawling over to Gaara.

"Naruto." Sasuke said, "Sakura's safe now." Naruto smiled,

"Good." He said before he passed out.

"Gaara!" Temari cried as she and Kankuro dropped from the trees, both taking defensive stances. I took a step in their direction, wanting to help Gaara.

"Leave them alone." Gaara said weakly. We all stopped and stared at him.

"Let's go." He said looking at Naruto unconscious body. Kankuro slung Gaara's arm around his shoulders and helped him up then the three of them disappeared. Sasuke moved to follow them.

"Let them go, Sasuke." I said and turned back to Naruto, "We have to help Naruto and Sakura." He sighed and reluctantly agreed.

Konoha had taken serious damage in the time we'd been away, the hospital was flooded with the injured. When Sasuke and I had brought in Naruto and Sakura, they'd begged me to help them. As tired as I was, I knew I had to help, so I agreed. We treated the wounded well into the night and didn't finish until early the next morning.

"Rae-chan, go home. You're about to pass out, and I don't need you taking up another bed." A nurse told me. I smiled weakly at her and nodded. Slowly I left the hospital and walked home. The sky was a combination of dark blue that got lighter towards the horizon and pale pink as the sun rose. The morning mist and dew gave Konoha a sort of peaceful feeling, like yesterday was just a bad dream.

By the time I reached my house, it'd felt like I hadn't been there for years. Opening the door, I found that the house was silent. _Kabuto must be asleep still. Ahh, sleep!_ Instinctively, I took off my shoes and walked into the kitchen to get some water. A piece of paper on the table caught my eye. After filling a glass up with water and drinking half of it, I sat down to read the note.

_**Rae,**_

_**I know this will be hard for you to understand but I guess you'd find out sooner or later. I was hoping that this would happen when you were a bit older, and that I could take you with me. But, as it seems, not everything works out the way you want it to. **_

_**Rae, you won't be able to see me for a long time, during that time you're bound to hear many things about you. Let me tell you now that everything you hear is true. I know a lot of what I'm writing isn't making much sense to you, but I assure you it will. And maybe, when you're older, you might understand my reasoning, but until then, and I ask you this as one last favour from a brother to his little sister, please, don't search for me. When the time is right, we'll meet again, I promise. **_

_**Goodbye, imouto.**_

_**Kabuto.**_

*imouto means younger or little sister*

I stared at the note, not too sure on what I was reading. I had to read it four times for it to sink in. Kabuto was gone, and he wasn't going to come back. I clutched the letter as tears rolled down my face.


	4. Learning To Live Again

Chapter Four – Learning To Live.

It had been months since Konoha was attacked and the only family I had left, Kabuto, had vanished. Although I had mission and working at the hospital to keep me busy, I felt hollow.

"Rae, I wish you'd talk to me." Kiba confessed as we sat by the fire. It was one of his many attempts to cheer me up, this time it was camping. I just stared at the flames in silence. Kiba sighed and stood up.

"I'm going for a walk. Don't wait up." He said and headed off into the darkness, Akamaru at his heels. I felt bad, Kiba was only trying to help. He'd been the one to find me later that day, curled up on the kitchen floor with the note clutched in my hand after I'd cried myself to sleep. He'd stayed with me, trying to coax me into eating, then trying to get me to sleep. He had even stayed over for a week, just to make sure I wouldn't do anything drastic. He'd been so worried about me, he'd forgotten to take care of himself. He'd become so thin due to the stress I'd been causing him. When I'd finally sent Kiba home, he'd taken it upon himself to have people check up on me regularly. Usually Ino or Hinata, but Neji would occasionally make an appearance. But Kiba's patience was wearing thin, my constant depression was frustrating him. I yawned and decided that it was a good time to sleep. Even though he was annoyed, Kiba wouldn't go too far away from me. That thought gave me some comfort.

I awoke to the sound of frantic whispering. Rolling over I saw Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata and Shino sitting around the remains of the fire.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked sleepily as I sat up, pushing Kiba's jacket off and resting in my lap so it wouldn't get dirty. They all stopped whispering and stared at me. I frowned, I hated it when they did that.

"Well, what is so important it has you all out here, whispering and such?" I asked again.

"Well…um…" Hinata began softly, she looked to Ino for help.

"Naruto's back." She said.

"And?" I asked, willing them to continue.

"And he brought back the woman who's going to be the Fifth Hokage." Shikamaru said. I yawned,

"I don't see why that's got you guys acting like this." I said.

"Uh, Chouji?" Shikamaru said.

"Well, it's about the news he brought back." Chouji said. This time I waited for them to continue, whatever it was, none of them wanted to tell me. Which meant it was serious, but I was too tired to be serious.

"Just spit it out already!" I exclaimed after no one said anything. Kiba sighed and knelt next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders.

"It's Kabuto, Rae. He's working with Orochimaru, the guy who killed the Third and destroyed half of the village." He said soft. I pulled away from him in shock.

"What?" I choked, "No! That's impossible! Kabuto would never…"

"Naruto saw it himself." Shino said.

"Shut up!" I screamed getting to my feet.

"Rae." Kiba said sadly. I shook my head, hysterical. _No! There's no way that it could have been! Kabuto would never betray Konoha! _

"He must have been tricked or blackmailed or something!" I said, I knew I sounded crazy, but I just couldn't accept that he'd do something like this.

"Rae, calm down." Kiba said getting to his feet and moving closer to me. I shook my head and pushed him away,

"Don't tell me to calm down, Kiba!" I hissed at him. He looked at me with sympathetic eyes,

"Kiba's right, Rae." Ino said, "You need to calm down." I glared at her,

"Easy for you to say." I snapped, "Your family is all here, in Konoha. Alive! You've grown up knowing your parents loved you! You have no idea what it's like not knowing who your parents where, whether they loved you, or if you had siblings. How the hell would you react when someone tells you that someone you love helped caused this? Until the only person you have left leaves you, don't any of you dare try to sympathize with me! None of you have EVER felt this pain!" My voice echoed around us as the group was silent. I felt hot tears fall down my face, my body ached to just run, and my heart was painful. Without looking at any of them, I turned and walked into the forest and back to Konoha. I heard Kiba softly call my name and my heart cracked again. I'd hurt him again, this time with my words. I'd hurt all of them when they were just trying to help me. But they just couldn't understand what it was like. I only knew of three people who shared my pain, one was unconscious, one couldn't hold a serious conversation even if he tried and the other was a three day walk away.

"Gaara." I sighed as I sat against a tree, "I wish you were here."

"What is it, Shikamaru?" I asked and leant against the doorframe. It was far too early for this kind of crap.

"I have a mission, and the Fifth has requested you to join me." He said. It'd been a few days since we'd both been promoted to Chūnins. I yawned,

"And this mission would be?"

"We've had a report that Sasuke left Konoha last night." He replied. I sighed, _Sasuke._

"A report? From who? And why?" I asked him, running a hand through my hair.

"Sakura reported it. Apparently he's going to Orochimaru." He replied. My body snapped to attention at the mention of his name.

"Orochimaru." I hissed and glared into space, "Give me five." I left before Shika could respond. Racing upstairs I quickly changed, fixed my hair and put my forehead protector on. After packing my equipment, I headed back downstairs.

"Let's go."

I assessed the people that Shika had assembled. Naruto, Chouji, Kiba and Akamaru and Neji. I would have liked to have more people, but time was short. Shika told us the strategy and after checking out equipment we headed out.

"I didn't think you'd be up to coming along with us, Rae." Naruto said from behind me. I smirked,

"And miss the chance to kick Orochimaru's ass? You're joking, right?" I replied. I heard Kiba chuckle ahead of us.

"As long as you don't get yourself into a troublesome situation, you can do what you need to." Shika said. Even though he was the squad leader, he knew better than to try and stop me from getting my revenge. In fact, I'd made it very clear to him, that if we were to run into Orochimaru, I'd be the one to throw the first punch. And then the following nine more.

We'd been running for hours and so far had only run into two enemies who Chouji and Neji had volunteered to take care of.

"You're worried about them aren't you?" Kiba said as we kept running.

"Yeah." I said. We had no idea how strong those guys were, but if they were working for Orochimaru, they had to be strong. We ran through the night and finally caught up with the last two, and Sasuke. With Shika's planning, we managed to steal the barrel holding Sasuke and run. Akamaru finished setting up the traps just as we got back to him. But the last guy caught Akamaru with wire and strapped him to the branch of a tree next to an exploding tag that was about to go off. Kiba jumped to Akamaru just as the tag went off, sending the three of them into a valley below.

"Kiba!" I screamed as Shika held me back.

"Damn it." He said staring down where Kiba and Akamaru had fallen.

"You shits!" someone yelled. We all looked up to see a dark pink haired woman charging at us, screaming insults. I glanced at Naruto who was acting as a human shield in front of Sasuke's barrel.

"Where did Kiba and Akamaru go?" he asked Shika.

"The other has finally come. Kiba will just have to hold on." He replied, "We have no choice. I'll do something." I clenched my fist wanting to punch this woman in the face then go to Kiba, but I knew I had to listen to Shika, otherwise I would end up dead.

"You two take the barrel and go on ahead." Shika continued.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto said in disbelief. I sighed, knowing that I was going to get the chance to beat up anyone. I'd realized that Orochimaru was the type of man who'd send his servants to collect his dry cleaning, and so the only chance I'd get at getting my revenge right now would be by killing these jerks. But it seemed that Shika wanted to stick to the plan, my revenge would have to wait.

"Hurry and go!" Shika demanded. Just as we were about to turn and leave, the woman stopped suddenly. A terrified look spread across her face.

"Why are you here?" she asked. I frowned, was this the enemy Shika was going to face? She was acting all tough a moment ago, but now she looked pathetic. _Unless…_ And then I felt his presence, shivers ran down my spine. We turned just as he landed softly on the barrel. _Sasuke!_ The new enemy flipped over us gracefully and kicked the barrel off the branch, floating after it in one fluid motion. It was impossible for us to catch him. He landed on a tree branch a few metres away from us. Naruto glared at him as he turned back to face us.

"Sorry Naruto," Shika said, "This guy wasn't in my calculations."

"Kimimaro." I heard the woman whisper behind us. I studied this man, Kimimaro, intensely. He was pale, with white hair, shorter than mine, and deep green eyes. He wore red paint under his eyes and had two red dots on his forehead. _Red dots…where have I seen that?_ I racked my brain trying to think of why they looked so familiar.

"You're too late, Tayuya." He said to the woman behind us. I closed my eyes, thinking back to my lessons with Kabuto, it was driving me insane!

"Besides, where are the other three?" he asked, "We were the sound five, after all."

"Why are you…?" Tayuya began, "Your body – Your body should be…" She was terrified.

"My body is broken. I am using my willpower to move it." Kimimaro replied. I looked up at him and decided to see for myself. Heightening my sight and using a medical technique I looked through his body. I gasped in shock and pulled my sight back to normal.

"Rae." Shika said catching me as I sat on the branch.

"He…He should be dead." I whispered, "His body is – it's beyond repair. The fact he's moving around is astonishing. But he's not going to hold out for much longer."

"So we have a chance." Naruto said getting all pumped up. I shook my head,

"He's strong, Naruto. Stronger than these guys put together." And then it hit me.

"Those dots!" I whispered, "Of course."

"What?" Shika asked, "What is it?" _But Kabuto said that clan was completely wiped out, this doesn't made sense!_

"He's from the Kaguya clan." I said standing up. Kimimaro smiled at me making me want to run a thousand miles away from him.

"What does it matter where he's from?" Naruto said, also standing, "I'm going to beat him up." It was useless to try and explain to Naruto just how dangerous Kimimaro was.

"Shika, listen to me." I whispered so only he could hear me, "This guy, Kimimaro, is from a clan whose sole purpose was to fight. They were a barbarian clan who were wiped out after attacking the Mist. I don't know how, but he survived."

"How do you know all of this?" he asked me.

"Kabuto." I replied, refusing to make eye contact with Kimimaro.

"Damn you. Don't you know when to die?" Tayuya said harshly. I glanced back at her, she sure had a lot of nerve talking to him like that.

"I can understand a little now. This conscious feeling of life after being released from the prison of my body." He said and patted the barrel, "This feeling of touching part of Orochimaru-sama's dream. This container is an important dream container. This is the body Orochimaru-sama really wants. But you guys are a little late."

"Hey man! What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto demanded, mimicking my thoughts. He was so worked up. _This is going to be bad_.

"Give us Sasuke back!" He demanded and lunged at Kimimaro before Shika and I could stop him.

"He's going to get killed that way." I said furiously. He readied his fist, moving to punch Kimimaro just as Tayuya came out of nowhere and punched Naruto right in the jaw, sending him flying back to us. Shika jumped from the tree and caught him on a lower branch, I followed suit. Tayuya and Kimimaro also jumped to the branch across from us. Kimimaro said something to Tayuya before leaving.

"Damn it! That bastard!" Naruto hissed.

"Calm down, Naruto." Shika said.

"How can I be calm?" Naruto snapped and I smiled. He hated being told to 'calm down' just as much as I did, "At this rate, Sasuke will be out of reach again!" Shika didn't respond, but instead looked deep in thought. _He's thinking of a plan._

"You shits." Tayuya said as she pulled out a flute, "I'll end this quickly."

"Alright, listen." Shika said quietly, "Move exactly how I tell you to move." Shikamaru went through his plan, telling us exactly what we were supposed to do in order for it to work. Naruto and I were to make it look like we were going to charge at Tayuya while Shikamaru distracted her. Naruto and I were to dodge past her and follow Kimimaro and Sasuke, leaving Shika to deal with her. In the previous encounters before, Shika had told me that I wasn't to fight. At all. Not only did he want me to save my chakra for healing, but I was going to be our team's surprise attack, and so the enemy had no idea what my technique was or how to counter it.

"Come on, you shits." Tayuya said sounding confident. I smirked at her and waited for Shika to give the signal. Pulling out a kunai, he stood up,

"It's three-on-one. We have the advantage. If we fight together we can take her." He said, "Let's go Naruto, Rae." Naruto stood as I readied myself to jump. Tayuya laughed,

"Trash like you, it wouldn't make a difference how many there are!"

"Don't underestimate our teamwork!" Shikamaru said.

"Let's go!" Naruto said, all worked up again. The three of us launched into the air, aiming for Tayuya. Shikamaru attacked her with the kunai, she blocked it with her flute. _Perfect._ I thought as Naruto and I sailed over their heads and landed in the tree behind them.

"Just kidding. Plan successful. See ya." Naruto said as we sprinted towards Sasuke and Kimimaro.

"Naruto," I said as we ran, "Don't underestimate this guy." He made a noise to show that he'd heard me, but I doubted that he'd listen. I knew what I was going to have to do. _Looks like I may get some satisfaction after all._

We caught up to Kimimaro easily. Well, to be honest, he was standing in an open meadow practically waiting for us. We jumped down and Naruto immediately took over. He seemed intent on doing this by himself, so I stood back and watched. But then there was no way in hell I was going to get in his way when he looked the way he did. His anger was bringing out the Kyubii's chakra. Naruto summoned over one hundred Shadow Clones to fight Kimimaro. Although the sheer amount impressed me, it didn't seem to have the same effect of Kimimaro.

"Wow." He muttered, "So much trash. But trash is still trash, no matter how much of it there is." He began to move, cutting through the Naruto replications with ease. Even though he was trying to kill Naruto and I, and trying to take Sasuke away, I had to admit, he was like a dancer. His body floated with ease through the Naruto's. _This will be the last time anyone ever sees the power of the Kaguya clan, no matter how this turns out._

Just as the Naruto's numbers dwindled down, purple smoke began to appear from Sasuke's barrel, until it finally burst open. The action caused Kimimaro and Naruto to stop fighting. The three of us stared at the smoke as it cleared and revealed Sasuke.

"Sasuke." I whispered, "What have they done to you." The boy before us was nothing of the Sasuke I'd grown up with. This boy was something else in Sasuke's form. He took off into the forest, laughing as Naruto cried out for him. _You arrogant jerk!_ I thought angrily as I sprinted to catch up to Sasuke and punch him in the face. Just as I thought I'd catch up to him, Kimimaro appeared inches from my face. I skidded to a stop, the tip of his sword centimetres from my nose.

"You think just because you're a girl I'd have a problem killing you?" he asked. _Crap!_

"Rae!" Naruto bellowed, furious. Kimimaro frowned slightly,

"Rae? Your name is Rae?" he asked me. I nodded and slowly took a step back. He noticed my movement and jumped over me. I took the opportunity to run, but he stopped me before the first step, his sword to my neck as he whispered in my ear,

"Well, even if you are Kabuto-sensei's sister, you're in the way." He hissed. I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder and right leg. Warmth ran down my back, chest and legs as I sank to the ground. _Damn it! _I did an internal check of the damage. My thigh was deep, but not too serious. But my shoulder – it had been the same shoulder that had been damaged during the Second Exam. Although Kabuto had healed it as best he could, the muscles still weren't completely healed. Kimimaro had now reopened the wound ten times worse. Whatever he had stabbed me with had ripped the muscles completely, and movement was impossible without proper healing, which would take hours. Time I obviously didn't have. Not to mention I would have to choose which wound to heal, I still hadn't fully recovered from the chakra sucking dome, and healing consumed a lot of chakra, and I could only use my right hand. But at the same time, I wouldn't be much use if I was on the verge of death. Wincing, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Ripping the hem of my dress into a long enough strip, I tied it around my thigh, stopping the bleeding. It was a temporary fix. Something flew through the air and skidded to a stop beside me.

"Lee?" I asked as the dust cleared, "When did you get here?" He smiled, eyes on Kimimaro,

"Just before." He said, "I sent Naruto to go after Sasuke."

"He told you about Kimimaro's Bloodline Limit, right?" I asked. Lee nodded and gave me a thumb's up.

"I'll defeat this guy." He said confidently and charged at the enemy again. I sighed, _Just be careful._ I focused onto my shoulder, I needed to stop the bleeding before I passed out and died. Taking a deep breath, I gathered the healing chakra in my right hand and brought it up to my shoulder. The familiar warmth was somewhat soothing. For the moment, I just concentrated on stopping as much bleeding as possible. My main focus was closing the back opening. After a few minutes I'd stopped the bleeding and closed both openings, the back all the way and the front temporarily. I looked up at the fight that was still going on. Lee was flipping around like a ragdoll, avoiding every attack Kimimaro threw at him. I'd never seen Lee move like that before; in fact I wasn't even aware he **could** move like that. Although whatever he was using, wore off when Kimimaro managed to land a hit. Lee began to move like his normal self again. I felt someone else's presence as Lee charged at Kimimaro again. His kick connected with bone and sand. _Sand?_ I thought as a body appeared beside me. I looked up at the stern faced, red robed boy beside me.

"Gaara." I whispered. His eyes slid from Lee and Kimimaro down to me.

"Are you okay?" he asked as his sand brought Lee over to his feet. I nodded, and tried to stand. I managed to get to my knees before feeling lightheaded.

"Don't move anymore." He ordered as Kimimaro shot bullet like bones at Gaara. Of course, Gaara's sand stopped the bullets and they fell harmlessly at Gaara's feet.

"You should be closer." He said as his sand formed beneath my knees and gently carried me closer to Gaara.

"Why are you doing this?" Lee asked as Gaara began to fight Kimimaro with his sand.

"We were under orders when we attacked Konoha. This is also why we're here." Gaara said simply, "Besides, I owe Konoha a huge debt." I looked up at him; he seemed different from when I last saw him. There was less hatred in his eyes and his face was softer. He still stood with his arms crossed, but it was less protective.

The fight went on for ages. Kimimaro just refused to die, even managing to survive Gaara's Desert Graveyard. Lee and I stared in disbelief as Kimimaro crawled out of the sand yet again.

"Garra, if you can find a way to get me close to him, I'll be able to damage his chakra circuit." I whispered to him as Lee was flung out of Kimimaro's way. Gaara's face stayed expressionless,

"No. The risk is too high." He said, "You can't use your arm, anyway." I looked down at my shoulder, a small amount of blood had begun to seep out of the partial close. _Damn it. I feel so useless, I haven't done anything to help out all this time. _I thought closing my eyes and remembering what my friends had done. I hated not being able to do anything, even if I couldn't use my arm, there had to be something! I opened my eyes just as Kimimaro pulled out his spinal cord, turning it into a bone whip. Taking a deep breath I slowly stood up, my gaze fixed on Kimimaro.

"Rae-chan!" Lee exclaimed, surprised.

"Rae…" Gaara said softly.

"I'm not going to let anyone else important to me get hurt." I said defiantly. _Chouji, Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba…You guys put your life on the line to bring Sasuke back. Now it's my turn._ I thought as a white hot rage filled my veins and I clenched my right hand into a fist. I could feel my chakra build up and explode in my hand. Kimimaro flung his spine whip towards Gaara. _Let's stop that body of yours._ Without hesitation I leapt in front of Gaara. Kimimaro frowned and angled his whip so it would go around me and get Gaara. His movement was to slow and bone scraped against my side.

"Rae-chan!" Lee yelled as I winced. Gaara's sand moved instantly, surrounding him as the whip wrapped around it. Sand began to form at my feet as well.

"Gaara, stop." I ordered, the sand stopped moving. Cracking all of my fingers on my right hand, I smirked up at Kimimaro. _Damn, still not enough._ I thought as more chakra built in my hand and slowly took form around my hand.

"Flower." Kimimaro said as bone began to envelope his left arm, "This bone has been strengthened to the maximum. I will pierce through your sand defences along with you!" Although his words were strong, I saw him cough after his threat, blood spraying from his mouth. _He's not going to last much longer. Hopefully this will stop him for good. I just hope we can last while it works._ Gaara's sand began to take a new form in front of us. I was grateful he was behind me.

"Saikou zettai bouygo, Shukaku no tate!" Gaara yelled as the sand took on the shape of a giant raccoon. Kimimaro thrusted his arm into the sand shield. I looked down at my hand; my chakra had taken the full form I needed. Loud cracking brought my attention back up to the shield as I held my chakra covered hand over the graze on my side, letting my blood mix with the chakra. With a final few cracks, the bone covering Kimimaro's arm shattered and fell to the ground.

"That sand." Kimimaro said.

"I collected minerals with the highest tensile strength from the ground, added pressure with my chakra and mixed them with sand. Your…unique technique is a Bloodline Limit, isn't it?" Gaara explained.

"The Kaguya Clan's." he replied, "Now, this technique is mine alone."

"You must be the last of your clan. Then right here today, that clan will become extinct." Gaara said as I grabbed Kimimaro's whip and forced my chakra inside it, making it flow slowly toward his hand. _Please reach him in time._ I prayed as they continued to speak. Gaara's sand began to pull Kimimaro down as the shield turned into a hand and held onto the whip, tugging it away from Gaara. Due to the blood I'd infused with my chakra, I could sense and guide it to where I wanted it to go. It was something Kabuto and I had come up with, a jutsu only I could use. I felt my chakra begin to seep into Kimimaro's hand and start to flow up his arm, following his chakra circuit. I could feel all the damage to his body as he began in sink into the sand. _Where is it…His body's a mess, I can't see anything like this._ _Damn_… I thought as my knees became weak. It was now or never. I closed my eyes as I sank to the ground.

"Rae?" Gaara asked, worry creeping into his voice.

"Don't worry about me." I assured him as I followed my chakra throughout Kimimaro's body, searching everywhere.

"You did it!" I heard Lee yell, "This time, it's over, right?" _Not yet._ I thought as I frantically searched for my goal. Because I was using his chakra system, I had to go through every organ one by one. Suddenly, there was a huge burst of chakra throughout his circuit. _Shit!_ I thought as I pushed my way through the force. I felt my body being lifted into the air by something and I felt someone arm snake around my limp body. The flow of Kimimaro's chakra died down but I kept pushing mine forward. I didn't know how much longer those two could withstand. Kimimaro's body was exceptionally weaker than before. Finally I came to his heart. Without a second thought I reformed my chakra hand and gasped onto his beating heart, squeezing it and killing him instantly. _Hopefully…_ I thought as darkness fell upon me.

"Rae-chan?" I heard a faint worried voice call.

"Rae…" said another softer and slightly deeper voice. I moaned weakly. My head pounded and my body ached like crazy. _Kiba…Neji…_ I thought, their faces flashing in my mind as I slowly opened my eyes. The thing beneath my head shifted slightly as a sideways face came into view. Big rounded black eyes and very thick eyebrows greeted me.

"Lee?" I asked shakily. He grinned down at me. I frowned, remembering that there was someone else with us. _Oh no!_

"Gaara…where's?" I began to ask but another voice interrupted me.

"I'm here." He said sounding very close behind me. It was then I noticed that whatever my head was resting on was covered in dark red cloth. Wincing and groaning, I managed to push myself up into a sitting position with my right arm. Gaara was leaning against a tree, arms crossed over his chest, right knee bent and his left leg against the ground.

"What happened?" I asked them, "Did he die?" Gaara nodded,

"Yes." I sighed,

"Thank god it worked in time." I said, relief washing over me.

"What worked?" Lee asked me. I looked back up at them.

"The reason I passed out this time wasn't because of my wound. It was because of my Surgeon's Glove jutsu." I said. Lee frowned,

"Surgeon's Glove jutsu?" he asked.

"So that's what you were doing…" Gaara mused quietly. I nodded,

"It's a jutsu only I can use. I gather chakra in my hand until it completely takes the form of my hand and then, providing I have a part of the person touching me, I can send my chakra into their body. It was originally created for medical purposes but it can double as an attack, if I have the time required to do it. It takes a while sometimes." I said as I looked towards the new forest of bones.

"That's why you let his bone whip thing hit you?" Lee asked and I nodded.

"But you need your blood to be infused with your chakra in order to control it." Gaara said, understanding how it worked. I nodded again,

"That's why the other reason I let it hit me. I could have used the blood seeping from my shoulder but it was already contaminated by the wound trying to heal itself." I said.

"That's quite an impressive jutsu." Gaara said. A gentle wind swirled around us and I closed my eyes, remembering the man who'd helped me.

"It was my brother's idea." I said as the wind blew away from Konoha and the Fire Country.

I ran through the hospitals many hallways, tears flowing from my eyes as I finally came to the closed doors, the sign above glowing red signalling that there was an intense operation going on. I desperately wanted to help them but I knew that I just had to wait and hope for the best.

"Rae-chan? You're back?" asked a soft, sweet voice behind me. I wiped at the tears rolling down my face, trying to get them to stop. Giving up, I turned to one of my most trusted friends.

"Hinata…" I said sobbing slightly, "It's my fault. It's all my fault. If I'd done my job properly instead of trying to get revenge this…Chouji and Neji…wouldn't…" I fell to my knees as sobs shook my body. Hinata wrapped her arms around me, trying to comfort me,

"Rae-chan, it's not your fault. Please, don't blame yourself." She said, her voice cracking a little. I looked up to see my pain mirrored in her eyes. Neji was her cousin, and although he'd nearly killed her, they'd been getting a little closer over the days after the Preliminaries. But her pain wasn't for her almost dead cousin; her pain was for seeing someone special to her hurting.

"Neji is strong and has got some of Konoha's best physicians working on him." Said a deep voice from in front of us. We both looked up to see Hiashi Hyuga standing in front of us, Hinata's little sister Hanabi peering out from behind him.

"Father." Hinata whispered in greeting.

"You must be the girl Neji's been training with – Rae Ikeda, correct?" he asked, offering his hand to me.

"Yes Hiashi-sama." I said as I took his hand and he helped me up.

"Neji's told me a lot about you. He said that you are one of the most skilled medical shinobi Konoha's ever seen, with the exception of Tsunade-hime of course." He said, "He also said that your abilities rival his."

"He may have been overestimating me." I said sniffling.

"Neji-kun never overestimates." Hinata said.

"If what my nephew says is true, why do I find you sobbing on the floor outside of ICU-7 where many skilled physicians are saving his life?" Hiashi-sama asked as he took a seat.

"Because I couldn't help him." I confessed as more tears rolled down my face.

"I think you helped him more than you realize." He said as another team of medical-nins raced past the hallway, carrying another battered body. I couldn't see his face, but I knew it had to be someone from our team. I closed my eyes and quit trying to stop my tears from escaping.

"Where is he?" cried a woman's voice. I opened my eyes to see Hana Inuzuka, Kiba's older sister, run past in the same direction of the medical-nins, a pack of dogs following her.

"Kiba…" I whispered, clenching my right fist.

"Go Rae." Hiashi-sama said, "You can do more for him than you can for Neji." I nodded and ran after Hana.

I pulled open the door with such force it shook.

"Kiba!" I cried as I ran over to him and hugged him.

"Rae?" he asked hugging me back.

"I couldn't do anything…" I sobbed. Kiba just hugged me tighter and pulled me up onto the bed with him. Laying on his chest I let out all of my built up sadness until I couldn't cry anymore. When my tears finally stopped I rested against Kiba's chest, sniffling and hiccupping occasionally. Kiba didn't say anything; he just gently ran his fingers through my long hair. I felt completely at peace just lying there with him. Eventually his breathing slowed and deepened, and his fingers stopped playing with my hair. I looked up at him. His eyes were closed and his face was peaceful. I smiled.

"He's cute when he's asleep, isn't he?" Hana said from the doorway. As I didn't want to wake Kiba, I replied without rolling over.

"I think he's cute all the time, everyone else only notices when he's asleep." I said smiling honestly for the first time since Kabuto left. Hana laughed quietly,

"I think you're the only girl besides me and Mum that has said that." She said. Kiba's arm tightened and he pulled me closer in his sleep. I wrapped my arm around his side and snuggled closer to him.

"You know Rae," Hana said, "Kiba cares a lot about you. He has for a very long time."

"I know." I replied looking up his face once again, "I've treated everyone like crap since Kabuto left, Kiba more so than the others. And yet he was always there beside me when I needed him to be. I've never told him this but I don't think I would have been able to handle it if Kiba wasn't there." Kiba sighed and smiled in his sleep and I wondered what he was dreaming about while slowly drifting into my own dream.

"Rae, I really need to piss. Wake up." Kiba said shaking me until I was awake.

"Huh?" I said sleepily, "Kiba, I was having a good dream…"

"Sorry, but I really have to go!" he said as he pushed me off him gently and ran to the bathroom. I yawned and stretched, cracking my shoulders, neck and back as I went.

"That's not really good for you, you know." came an annoying voice from the doorway.

"Actually," I said turning to face her, my back giving one last crack just to spite her, "It's air bubbles popping so it's perfectly fine." Tenten glared at me, unhappy that I'd corrected her.

"They told me to tell you that Neji's out of ICU and that there were no complications. We can see him tomorrow." She said, placing a hand on her hip.

"Who can we see tomorrow?" Kiba asked coming out of the bathroom.

"Neji's out of ICU." I said to him. He sighed, relieved that our comrade was okay.

"Oh, and Chouji's fine too. Lost a little weight, but fine." Tenten said before walking away.

"Thank god." I said as Kiba sat back on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm glad those two are okay." He said distantly.

"You're worried about Naruto, aren't you?" I asked, placing my hand on his.

"Yeah." He said. I flipped my hair over my shoulder, it must have come out of the tie while I was sleeping, and checked out the bandage job the nurses did on me while I was desperately trying to get away to see Kiba.

"What happened?" he asked as I touched my shoulder.

"Another of those Sound guys turned up just after you and Akamaru fell and took the barrel from us. So Naruto and I went after him while Shikamaru took care of the woman. I got this while fighting him. Naruto and I probably would have died if Lee and Gaara hadn't turned up." I said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. While I was fighting Sakon and Ukon, Kankuro turned up and saved my ass." He told me. I smiled,

"It's good to have them on our side this time." I said. I thought back to when we'd fought Kimimaro, Gaara had saved my life so many times.


	5. Chipping His Mask, Watch It Crumble

Chapter Five – Chipping His Mask, Watch It Crumble

It had been a week since our failure of retrieving Sasuke. Chouji, Neji and Naruto were still in the hospital recovering. Kiba had been sent home after a few days of being in there. I had been helping his mother, Tsume, and his sister, Hana, take care of him, attention Kiba seemed to be lapping up. Among other things, I'd also been recruited into occasionally helping at the school, when the hospital didn't need me, along with Temari, Kankuro and Gaara. I didn't mind though, it was nice to get to know them all more; I held no grudges against them. Gaara had saved my life twice, if anything, I was in his debt.

"Rae, you're zoning out again." He said one afternoon as we were helping the kids with their shurikan training.

"Oh, sorry." I said, I wasn't the best teacher at the greatest of times, but when I had multiple things running through my mind, the kids were the last thing. Kankuro rested a strong hand on my shoulder,

"Do you want to take a break? We can handle things here." He said smiling and then looked down at Gaara, "Maybe if you looked less scary, the kids might not be so intimidated by you, Gaara." Gaara looked up at him, surprise and confusion in his eyes as if he thought he didn't look 'scary'.

"Kankuro you should know better than me that it's just how Gaara is." I said and half smiled at Gaara. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he was trying to smile back before his attention was drawn to one of the kids.

"Udon, keep your eyes firmly on the target and follow through when you throw it." He said calmly and as nicely as he possibly could.

"Y-yes…" Udon stuttered, snot dripping out of his nose. I scanned the kids to see if any needed help or advice but my eyes fell on someone who was standing away from everyone else and facing away from us.

"Rae?" Temari asked as I walked towards the boy. He was looking up at the Hokage Monument, sniffling.

"Konohamaru-kun?" I said as I stood behind him. He turned around quickly, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I wasn't crying. I had something in my eye…" he said as I dropped to my knees and pulled him into a hug.

"'A shinobi must not show emotion in any situation. A shinobi must put the mission first and have a heart that will allow him not to cry.'" I told him, repeating the 25th clause of the ninja know-how, "But shinobi aren't machines that don't feel emotion, we're just people. Even the most monstrous person feels when it comes to their loved ones. Shinobi aren't machines, or tools, and to ask that of someone so young is barbaric." I pushed him back and stared into his watery eyes.

"It's okay to cry, Konohamaru." I whispered, "Just don't get consumed by it." With that the young boy flung himself into my arms and cried for his grandfather.

After school was over Temari, Kankuro, Gaara and I decided to go to Ichiraku Ramen for some late lunch as they'd never been. We were talking about trivial things, just chatting, when Shikamaru turned up.

"Getting some ramen for Chouji?" I asked him after he ordered a large miso with everything.

"Yeah, he's getting his appetite back quickly." He said paying for the takeaway. I smiled,

"I'm glad he's okay." Shika smiled back,

"Me too. Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" I nodded and followed him outside. His smile faded quickly which made me worry.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Rae. I should have let you do your job."

"We all made mistakes, Shikamaru. It's not solely your fault. I was too absorbed in my own revenge to be of any use to anyone until someone finally made me realize what was really important." I replied looking back into Ichiraku.

"Gaara? He's really changed that much?" he asked surprised.

"Not just Gaara, Lee too. When he said he held no grudges against Gaara, even though it was very possible that Lee wouldn't ever be able to be a shinobi if it wasn't for Tsunade-sama, I realized that there's things more important than being depressed and angry over something, and that it won't change unless I'm willing to do something about it." I said, "So as soon as he's well enough I'm going to resume training with Neji and keep working at the hospital. I don't want to see any more my important people hurt again."

"I feel the same way." Shika said, "And I'm glad you're back to your old self. I missed you. Anyway, I'd better get this to Chouji before it becomes troublesome. See ya." I waved goodbye to Shikamaru and headed back into Ichiraku where Temari and Kankuro were deep in conversation. I sat in silence with Gaara for a while until he spoke,

"You really helped that boy today." He said quietly. I looked up from my ramen, he was staring straight ahead and I wondered what was going through his mind.

"I remembered a story Iruka-sensei once told me about his childhood. He'd lost both his parents; they died fighting to save Konoha and the villagers. Because he'd been told that he shouldn't show emotion, he kept his pain inside and hugged his knees at night. When the Third found him one day crying at the cenotaph and hugged him. I knew that Konohamaru needed to hear words from someone who knew what it was like to lose someone they love. Of course the someone I love was partly responsible for the death of his grandfather, I knew that if I said those words it would mean more to him than coming from anyone else." I replied looking at the soup in my bowl.

"Just one touch from a stranger can change someone's perspective." Gaara replied knowingly. I looked up at him,

"Naruto had that effect on you?" I asked. His mouth twitched again,

"And you." He replied before looking at me, "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Kankuro was picking on Konohamaru and Naruto." I replied smiling again. Gaara nodded,

"Normally I wouldn't care for remembering such a memory aside from Sasuke's strength. But, for the second time in my life someone looked at me without fear. Your eyes only held compassion for me." He said, "That's when I first felt something other than hatred, but I shut it out and convinced myself that it was all in my imagination. But then I saw your worry for a Sound ninja during the preliminaries, someone who would kill you as soon as look at you. Like before I dismissed it until I finally realized that what I'd seen had all been genuine feelings from you when, instead of anger and hatred, you looked at me with worry after I tried to kill your friends and comrades."

"Gaara…"

"Please, don't say anything. I just wanted to thank you and let you know that I'm in your debt for what you've done for me." He said. I shook my head,

"You saved my life in more ways than one. If it wasn't for you and Lee I'd be going down the same path as Sasuke." I replied, "I think we're even." For the first time Gaara laughed. It was quiet and soft but the sweetest laugh I'd ever heard.

The day finally came when the Sand Siblings had to go back. I stood at the gate with Shikamaru and the kids to say goodbye.

"Thank you very much!" the kids all said to them. Temari smiled back happily,

"Train hard, all of you." She said.

"I'll master the shuriken technique by the next time you come by!" Konohamaru told her.

"Me, me, me too!" Udon stuttered excitedly.

"I want to be a female ninja just like you, Temari-san." Moegi exclaimed. Temari was definitely popular amongst the kids, she'd be a great teacher. I looked at Gaara who stood with his usual solemn expression and couldn't help but smile.

"I'm very honoured." Temari replied genuinely.

"Sorry for making you teach at the academy because we were short-handed. You'd probably rather look around and…" Shika said to them.

"What are you saying? We did it because we wanted to." Temari replied.

"Yeah, and we were also able to gain some insight into the future power of Konoha." Kankuro agreed teasingly. Shikamaru chuckled,

"Well, be careful on your way home." He said smiling.

"Yeah." Kankuro assured us as they turned to leave. Gaara was unusually quiet, which made me sad. I would miss him a lot. As I was about to leave Temari turned back,

"We'll come help you again if anything happens, okay Mr Crybaby?" she said teasing him playfully.

"That was uncalled for." He replied grinning, "That's why girls…" Temari laughed before he could finish his sentence but for them, it didn't need finishing. After watching our new friends walk away we headed back into town.

"So…" I finally said after a while, "Temari…"

"It's not like that." He protested, "We're just friends." I raised an eyebrow to him,

"Really?" He sighed heavily,

"You're really quite troublesome, you know? I'll admit this only to you, I was a little sad to see her go. Happy?" he asked. I grinned at him,

"Yep!" He laughed and we said goodbye before going our separate ways. I was on my way to meet Neji at the Hyuga compound when I decided to drop into the hospital just in case they needed anything. A nurse gave me a room number and told me it was just a quick stitch and bandage job but everyone else was busy. When I opened the door I saw a silver haired Jonin wearing a face mask and his forehead protector covering his right eye sitting on the gurney.

"I'm Rae and I'll be taking care of your wound today." I said the practiced words easily while I studied this strange man, "Where are you hurt?"

"I told them it was nothing serious. Just a Kunai scratch." He said lazily. I blinked at him and crossed my arms,

"I'll be the judge of that. Please show me the wound." I ordered him. He shrugged and unzipped his flac vest and placed it beside him. I wondered whether he was going to take off the body suit underneath as well, but he didn't. I was a little disappointed I didn't get to see his face but quickly stitched up the cut and bandaged.

"Try to avoid doing anything excessive otherwise the stitches with pop and the wound will reopen" I cautioned him.

"You were a part of the team assigned to retrieve Sasuke, weren't you?" he asked as he put his vest back on. I stopped; my hand still on the door handle.

"I was." I replied facing the door still.

"I thought Sasuke would be strong enough to put his revenge behind him and stay with his comrades. I was too naive. I truly believed that the good in his heart would win, but not even Naruto could bring him back." He said distantly. I looked at him through the glass' reflection; he was facing the window, a sad expression in his eyes. I realized then that he was Kakashi, Sasuke's sensei. I wanted to say something, tell him it wasn't his fault but the words wouldn't form. Finally, he looked over to me,

"You did your best." He told me. If it had been anyone else I would have argued that I didn't, that I should have done more to help, but not to this man. He knew everything that had happened, he'd seen the aftermath of Naruto and Sasuke's fight. He'd been there. To me, his words meant more than comforting words from a stranger. They were proof that we had tried our best and that no matter how hard we had tried, nothing would have brought Sasuke back. His words gave me new strength, and I wanted to find Sasuke and bring him home no matter what.

"Thank you, Sensei." I said before leaving.

The weeks went on and I was sent on missions with various groups, and since Sakura was training to become a medical-nin, and Kakashi was busy doing other missions, Naruto was usually assigned to the same mission. I had just sent a letter to Gaara when I was requested to see Tsunade-sama. As I stepped through the door, I saw a familiar sight. Neji, Lee and Tenten were already there.

"Uh, you wanted to see me Fifth?" I asked her. She nodded from her desk,

"You are to accompany this team to the hidden village of the Star on a guard mission to protect the artefact." She informed me, "Usually this would only require a three-man cell, but as a precaution having a medical-nin wouldn't be so bad."

"Yes, Ma'am." I said accepting the mission. The four of us headed to get our things.

"How's your training going?" Neji asked me as we walked towards my house. The Hyuga compound was in the same direction.

"With the missions and working at the hospital, it's hard to get a decent session in lately. But I'm getting there, I guess." I replied.

"You could come and train with me at the compound if it's more convenient…" he offered. I smiled up at him,

"I'd like that. Besides, I owe Hiashi-sama thanks." I replied remembering his words to me months ago.

"I'll meet you at your house in a few minutes." He said and headed into the compound. I continued walking home when my hawk flew overhead. I ran home to see why it had returned so quickly. When I arrived home the bird I thought was mine was someone else's. I untied the scroll from its leg and headed inside to read it.

_**My dear little sister,**_

_**It's been a while, hasn't it? After hearing from a certain Uchiha that you were a part of the team of Genin assembled to bring him back to Konoha, I had to write to you, that is if Kimimaro didn't kill you. If he did then this letter is quite redundant. Nevertheless, his absence proves that he completed the task I gave him, costing him his life. His devotion to Orochimaru-sama was quite astounding.**_

_**Rae, the last time I wrote you a letter I asked you not to look for me. I have used up all my favours as a big brother to you, but I hope that you'll still listen to my advice. Stop searching for Sasuke. Not only is it useless but it's dangerous. Orochimaru-sama has dyed him to his colours now, and there's nothing you can do about it. Forget about him for your own safety. **_

_**P.S. Tell Naruto I look forward to our next encounter. **_

After reading the letter I thought about ripping it up and setting fire to it, instead I just left it on the table and went upstairs to pack. When I came down, Neji was waiting for me by the doorway.

"I wasn't aware you'd gotten a new bird." He commented as I locked the door. Kabuto's bird was still sitting on the perch where he'd landed.

"I didn't. It's Kabuto's." I replied simply before giving it some water. Neji frowned,

"He sent you a letter?" I nodded,

"He told me to stop looking for Sasuke." I replied as we began walking towards the gate.

"He doesn't expect a reply, does he?" he asked. I shook my head; I'd thought about replying but knew that the bird wouldn't fly back to him. When it had enough water it would fly home, and not to Kabuto.

"Neji…" I said softly.

"I won't tell them." He promised without me even having to ask. I smiled up at him,

"Thank you."

We met Lee and Tenten at the gate before heading off in the direction of the Star. We hadn't been running long when an unexpected person showed up.

"Listen up. From here on out I'll be in the lead. The area before the village is dangerous." Neji informed us, moving up to take the lead.

"Yeah, I got it." Tenten said. I rolled my eyes and slowed down, feeling someone else's presence.

"Hey, everyone!" Naruto exclaimed loudly as he jumped up and landed between Lee and Neji.

"I'm going on ahead, I'll be waiting for you!" he said as he continued to go ahead of us. I sighed heavily and sped up to catch up to Neji.

"Well, this just got more complex." I said.

"Naruto! Wait a minute!" Neji called out to him, "That guy…"

"Um, why is Naruto-kun here?" Lee asked taking Neji's other side.

"Like I know." Neji replied annoyed.

"Maybe he thinks that he'll find a lead regarding Sasuke." I guessed, "Anyway, this is definitely going to get interesting."

We caught up to Naruto at the valley just in time and jumped down, separating him from our escort.

"Wait!" Neji ordered him.

"He's an enemy! He attacked me all of a sudden!" Naruto protested.

"Naruto…" I sighed as our escort's chakra disappeared.

"You guys are Konoha shinobi, right?" he asked us and removed his mask revealing his face. This boy was around our age and had long black hair and light brown eyes. He wore a forehead protector with a star engraved on it.

"You're from the hidden Star village?" Naruto asked him.

"I'm Sumaru. I came to meet you guys." He said.

"Then why did you-?" Naruto began before Neji stopped him,

"Look at that." He said and pointed to a bird that was about to fly over the valley. For a moment it flew straight but then began to drop until it finally fell to the bottom and disappeared. Naruto moved to the edge and looked down, finally realizing what it meant.

"The Bear Country's boarders are full of poisonous gas. Foreign shinobi can't infiltrate the area and it serves as a natural barrier." Neji informed us.

"So this is the dangerous area you mentioned." Tenten said.

"It's why Neji was taking lead." I added, already knowing about the Bear Country's terrain.

"Isn't that great, Naruto-kun?" Lee piped up, "Sumaru-kun is your saviour! This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Konoha and the Hidden Star!" Lee began to laugh joyously but Naruto's face was far from happy.

"Don't joke." He said grumpily.

"Was my assistance unnecessary?" Sumaru asked condescendingly, "I would have been fine just watching and not doing anything."

"Neji, if we don't calm things down, Naruto may end up doing something stupid." I whispered.

"Yeah, I know." He replied before stepping forward, "Sumaru, do you mind taking us to see the person in charge?"

Sumaru led us to the Star without a word. Naruto was also uncharacteristically quiet as well, leaving Lee to try and break the tension.

"Are you okay?" Neji asked me as we walked behind Sumaru. I nodded,

"I just have a feeling this isn't going to be as easy as we want it to be."

"I think you're right." He replied. I watched Sumaru's back. I didn't find him unpleasant, but I felt like he was hiding something. We finally reached the village and Sumaru led us to a large wooden building with 'Star' written on it. We followed him inside and all sat in front of a middle-aged man with dark purple hair and dark blueish-purple eyes.

"I am the substitute Hoshikage of the Hidden Star Village, Akahoshi." He said greeting us.

"The substitute Hoshikage?" Tenten asked and looked to Neji for help.

"Since the Third Hoshikage's sudden death a year ago, there is no Hoshikage in this village." Akahoshi informed us.

"But, I thought that only the leaders of the five main hidden villages could choose the Kage." Neji said.

"Huh?" Naruto said, of course he hadn't paid any attention to this in the Academy.

"That doesn't matter!" cried Sumaru suddenly, making us all look at him incredulously.

"We won't lose to you guys." He said defiantly, "Now, even though we're small, this village will one day be among the five main villages. At that time, I will become the true Hoshikage!"

"Be silent." Akahoshi demanded, "Return to your training." Sumaru went without complaint as we all watched him go.

"Wait a minute!" Naruto called out and ran after him.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee and Tenten called as Naruto ran out the door leaving the four of us with Akahoshi.

"At a time like this…" Tenten said surprised at Naruto's outburst. Neji sighed and turned back to Akahoshi,

"Never mind him. Please continue with what you were saying." He said as we all turned back and focused on when Akahoshi was saying.

"Please excuse him. You are right in saying that our shinobi have no qualifications to be Kage. But, this village as the star that is envied by all five main villages. Using that star's powers, we may have the potential to elect the sixth Kage." He told us.

"That star is what they're after, isn't it?" Neji asked the substitute Hoshikage.

"Yes. Our search party managed to get information." He said.

"Rae, stay here and help the others. We'll get Naruto and Sumaru." Neji told me as we reached the training ground. I nodded and went to the Star shinobi.

"My name's Rae Ikeda, I'm a medical-nin. Is anyone hurt?" I asked them from outside. There was no response so I decided to check it out myself. There were six people lying on the ground unconscious and one, a girl, kneeling.

"Um…" I said trying to get her attention. She looked up and ran at me, a kunai in her hand. As she was running, her knees gave way and she fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as I knelt next to her.

"Why do you care?" she asked me. I sighed,

"Look at my forehead protector. I'm a medical-nin from Konoha assigned to help guard the star." I told her. She relaxed a little and looked at the ground,

"A big help you guys were." She muttered. I gritted my teeth and examined her legs instead.

"It's hard to be able to help when we aren't allowed in here." I replied calmly, "What's your name?"

"Hokuta." She replied.

"Well, Hokuta, it looks as though your body just hasn't fully awakened from being unconscious." I told her, "But we need to get the others awake. You wake those three, I'll wake these guys." Together we woke the rest of her unconscious friends before all heading to the infirmary.

"So what happened?" I asked Hokuta when everyone was resting.

"We were training when someone suddenly broke in and took the star. We tried to stop them but…well you saw the outcome." She replied sadly.

"Hey," I said resting a hand on her shoulder, "It wasn't your fault. You can't expect Genins to fend off a Jonin. That'd be suicide."

"I just wish there was more we could have done." She said.

"Rae?" Neji called out nearby.

"I'll be back in a second." I told Hokuta and went to join my team.

"Did you get it back?" I asked them. Neji shook his head,

"Whoever that guy was, he's extremely powerful."

"Yeah, he flew away using Chakra wings." Lee added. My mouth dropped,

"Chakra wings? I've heard of Chakra taking the form of wings before but I've never heard of a shinobi using them to fly." I said astounded.

"It's true, I saw it." Neji said, "We're going back to report it to Akahoshi."

"I'll stay and look after these guys if that's alright with you?" I asked him. He nodded and rested a hand on my shoulder,

"Don't overwork yourself. We may need you." He said. I smiled reassuringly and headed back into the infirmary. Hokuta was sitting at the end of the infirmary next to a young boy.

"I don't remember seeing him with the others…" I whispered, "Is he okay?" Hokuta nodded,

"The training was too much for him, he just needs some rest." She informed me. I frowned, the boy was pale and looked unhealthy.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" I asked Hokuta.

"Really, he's just tired." She insisted. I sighed and went back to looking after the others.

It'd been hours since the star was stolen and since everyone had gone home except Hokuta who wanted to stay with the boy, I decided to have a quick break. I went to the training building where the star was kept; there was a small residue of its power still remaining in the building.

"If the star is really as powerful as they say it is, surely being in constant contact with it is unhealthy. Besides, I'm not convinced that girl is just 'tired'." I said to myself. After finding nothing else important I headed back to Hokuta and the sleeping boy.

"Naruto!" I exclaimed as I stepped through the door to see him being strangled by Chakra.

"Hokuta, stop. I can tell he's not an enemy." Said the boy as he rolled over.

"Mizura!" Hokuta said surprized. Naruto took her moment of distraction to pull her down from the ceiling.

"Ouch…" she said as she landed on her butt.

"A girl?" Naruto said incredulously.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" I asked as I helped Hokuta up.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a Konoha ninja." Naruto replied, "I'm here to help guard the star." I rolled my eyes and went over to Mizura.

"My name's Rae, you're Mizura, right?" I asked him. He nodded,

"Are you a medical-nin?"

"Yeah. I heard from Hokuta that you'd trained too hard, is that right?" I asked. Mizura didn't reply as Naruto and Hokuta were heading over.

"Uh, Rae…can you…?" he asked holding out some Amaguriya youkan that he'd bought. It was half squashed. I sighed and lit a candle before taking the treat and cutting it into 12 portions.

"I'm sorry," Hokuta said to Naruto as they sat beside Mizura's bed, "My name is Hokuta. I sensed the Chakra of someone not of the village. And then…" Naruto chuckled quietly and took a piece of youkan.

"Well, the taste wasn't affected, so go ahead and eat some." He said smiling.

"Okay." She replied and took a piece as well, "Wow, it's really good!"

"Isn't it? Isn't it?" Naruto replied enthusiastically. I smiled at them before wondering what the others could possibly be doing, and where Sumaru was.

"Um, where are the others?" Naruto asked looking around.

"Zokutou said we should sleep. They didn't sustain any serious damage." Hokuta told him.

"And I agreed with him. Besides, there'd be no point in them staying here with nothing to guard." I added.

"Is that so?" Naruto asked. Before any of us could talk Mizura began to cough and I immediately became worried.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked as he walked over, "You saved me back there." Mizura coughed some more and I decided to have a look. Forming seals I began to scan his body with my Chakra.

"Are you injured somewhere?" Naruto asked him.

"No, it's nothing." He replied weakly. I frowned at what I saw, Mizura was very sick.

"Mizura's been feeling ill since he started training." Hokuta said sadly.

"Hokuta! Don't talk about the star around outsiders." Mizura cautioned her before having another coughing fit.

"Hey, don't over-exert yourself." I told him as he continued to cough.

"Are you alright, Mizura?" Hokuta asked worriedly.

"Hokuta, give him some of the medicine." I told her. She did as I told her,

"I'm sorry," she said to him, "I got ahead of myself."

"Other villages…Man, you guys are cold." Naruto said, "Especially that Sumaru."

"I'm sorry," Hokuta apologized again, "But there is a reason he's like that. That was ten years ago… Sumaru's parents were killed by foreign ninja who had come to steal the star while they were guarding it. That's why…"

"That's what happened…That's why, just before…" Naruto whispered, "So, where are Sumaru and the others?"

"Everyone said that they were going to get the star back." Hokuta said quietly. I looked up from Mizura,

"What?!" I gasped as I stood up and followed Naruto out of the infirmary.

We sprinted towards Neji as fast as we could.

"Neji!" Naruto said, "Did you see Sumaru's group?"

"Weren't you two looking after them?" he asked us.

"It was my fault. They were fine so I sent them home…I didn't think they'd…" I started to say but Naruto interrupted.

"Well, you see, it seems like most of the group went with Sumaru to look for the star." He said.

"Is that so?" Neji replied calmly.

"Hey! Is it okay to stay so calm?!" Naruto exclaimed. I'd worked closely with Neji for ages so I knew that he would rarely lose his cool; it was one reason why I liked him. I was about to tell Naruto that that was just how Neji was when something got Neji's attention.

"Hey, did something happen?" Naruto asked him as Neji stared into the distance.

"In the direction of Hell's Ravine, an enormous chakra is-" he replied.

"Did he come out again?" Naruto asked meaning the shinobi who stole the star.

"Let's go." Neji commanded and swiftly took off, Naruto and I closely following. We arrived at Hell's Ravine just in time to save Sumaru from the unknown shinobi. Naruto, Neji and I all threw shuriken at the guy, but he caught them with chakra and sent them flying back to us.

"Look out!" I warned them as I dodged the first few that were heading my way. While we were distracted by dodging shuriken, the shinobi had picked Sumaru up and had begun to leave.

"Neji!" I cried as I ran, getting his and Naruto's attention.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto yelled out, "Wait up!" We sprinted towards Sumaru and his kidnapper as fast as we good.

"Farewell." He said as we neared and his chakra began to change.

"W-what?" Naruto said as the ninja jumped off the cliff; his chakra taking the form of wings.

"You bastard." Naruto growled angrily and went to chase after them.

"Wait." Neji said as he grabbed his collar, holding him back. I stared as Neji held Naruto off the ground while he struggled, repeated telling Neji to let him go.

"Calm down! Just over there is the poisonous gas filled ravine." Neji told him.

"Remember the bird, Naruto?" I reminded him. Naruto stopped struggling and Neji put him back on the ground. I looked back towards the unconscious Star ninjas and wondered how we were going to get them all back to the infirmary.

"If he wasn't wearing his mask, then there's no way he could have survived." Neji said putting a cloth over his face to mask the gas. I headed over to the unconscious ninjas and away from the gas, leaving Naruto and Neji to talk. After checking everyone's pulse and determining that they were still alive I called Neji and Naruto over to help me carry them all back. Luckily Lee and Tenten had just caught up as well which meant that we didn't have to make two trips.

"What happened to them?" Lee asked looking over to me.

"They were taken out by that shinobi." Neji replied.

"He appeared again?" Lee asked us.

"He kidnapped Sumaru." Naruto informed them angrily.

"Naruto, we'll get Sumaru back. But first we have to get these guys to the infirmary." I told them all.

"Rae's right. Helping them comes first." Neji agreed, "We'll split up and carry them back." Once everyone had agreed we moved them all back to the infirmary where I could treat them properly. When we got back, my silent fears had been confirmed, Mizura was worse than before. Once everyone was safely in a bed I focused my attention on Mizura. He wasn't coughing anymore but he had a very high temperature which was worrying. I was working on a medicine when Neji came over.

"Mizura's not feeling well so he's taking a break from training." Hokuta explained to him. I glanced up at Neji and then back to the medicine, knowing he was going to see for himself. When Neji gasped quietly I looked back up to him, letting him know I already knew. Mizura stirred and opened his eyes before trying to sit up.

"Mizura!" Hokuta exclaimed.

"Don't move too much." I cautioned him, placing a hand on his shoulder to help support him while Neji took his other side.

"Are you okay?" he asked him.

"You need to sleep more!" Hokuta commanded; something I wasn't against.

"I can't sleep at a time like this." Mizura said before coughing some more.

"I understand how you feel, but you shouldn't push yourself." Neji said gently as I went back to making Mizura's medicine.

"I'm fine," Mizura said as he stood up, "I can walk by myself."

"Neji!" I exclaimed angrily as I dropped the bowl of mixture and stood up as well.

"Rae…Let him…" he said softly putting his hand on my arm. I looked up into his violet eyes, begging him to let me help Mizura and do my job, but it was useless. Instead I watched Mizura walk slowly over to the door; Hokuta following quickly to catch him as he stumbled.

"Rae, these aren't our people. Just because you're a medical-nin doesn't mean they're going to let you help them. After all, we are still outsiders." Neji said as the two of them left.

"You saw it yourself, Neji, if we don't do anything he'll die. I can't let that happen." I said angrily. Neji sighed softly,  
"I know. But there's not much we can do." He replied as I watched Naruto leave the infirmary as well.  
"I just wish there was more I could do." I said honestly and looked to the ground, "I hate feeling useless." Neji lifted my chin and smiled down at me,  
"You're of more use than you give yourself credit for." He whispered and lightly kissed my forehead. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I froze to the spot. My heart pounded so heavily I was sure he could hear it.


End file.
